Year Reflection

I just want you to take the time and reflect on what this year has been like for you. Think about the person you were at the beginning of 1017 and the person you are now. How have you changed? How have you grown, in your faith and as a person? What has this year been like for you? The ins and outs the ups and downs . What's new? Now what do you want for this coming year, how do you plan to dive deeper into your relationship with Christ? Just take the time to reflect on your year, whatever that means to you.

Now I just want to take the time to thank everyone who has been consistent throughout the year, everyone who has read the devotional and kept it going. This has been such a humbling experience for me and I have grown so much. I cannot believe it's coming to an end. Thank you so much, it means so much to me. Thank you so much. I love you and go have an amazing 2018! Be the person God made you to be and don't apologize for it! Thank you! I love you so much! Thank you!

Day 365: Direction: God Will Always Make a Way

*I know Sunday's are usually our recap days but in light of this being the last post of the year, here is the last part of our direction series.*

Matthew 6:25-34

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Okay so today is officially the last devotional of the year and it is by far the hardest one I have had to write. It is more emotional that I thought. However we shall proceed with today's devotional in which we will talk about not worrying about things and not worrying about stuff that is not even here, because God will take care of it all. There is no need to worry about anything because God has it all under control. We often spend too much time worrying about the future when we don't even know what it holds. We spend our time anticipating what will happen and being anxious for no reason. the moment we have is a gift and many times we overlook it because we are too busy looking into the future trying to figure out something God has already figured out for us. So why not live right now, there's nothing we can do about tomorrow until it gets here. I am a firm believer in crossing a bridge when you get to it. Meaning I can prepare all I want, I can get ready to walk the bridge I have never seen, but nothing can prepare me for exactly what will happen when I get to the bridge and when I get on it. I cannot try to cross the bridge when I am miles away from it, that just makes no sense. I have to cross it when I get there. With that being said, we are often trying to live in the future because we are so worried about what it holds that we are dismissing the journey to get there. 

I want you to go into the new year into worrying about what the future holds but having faith in who holds your future. Not worrying about material things but latching on to something and someone far greater than what money can buy us. Know that no matter what happens God will always make a way. In fact He has already made a way, He already has it figured out. Our job is to not try to do His job but trust in what He is doing. God cares so much for us and He will not leave us out to dry. Enjoy the journey to bridge before you get there, and when you do get there walk with God over it. 

Response/ Prayer Time

Take the time to respond on whatever way you feel led, take the time to pray about what we discussed today and pray about whatever is on you heart tonight!

I love you so much and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and enjoy your New Year. 

P.S.

There will be another reflection post later on tonight. 

Day 364: Direction: We Can't Do It Alone

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Today's devo is going to be quite short and straight to the point. We are talking about direction as we head into the new year. Today we are talking about taking God's direction because wherever we are going and whatever we are doing we cannot do it alone. We have to lean on God and trust Him because He will take us places we didn't know we would go, but places that we didn't know we had to go. God will lead us on a path that we must follow Him to get through successfully. Through life we cannot succeed or do anything without Christ. We cannot walk by ourselves and think that we are going to get anywhere. We cannot abandon the way of the Lord and think that we are going to get somewhere our own way. That is not how it works, the more we lean on God and the more we trust Him and put our faith into Him, the more He reveals His plans to us.

Sometimes people think that in order to fully live our lives and do what we want to do and live how we want to live that we must abandon the way of Christ, because for some reason we think our way is better than His. I want to let you know that we are not in control of anything, we are not in control of our own destiny, God is, and trust me it  is better in His hands than ours. I know we all want to be independent and we want to do things our way or not at all, but trust me God's way is better. We can try to live our life on our own and try to walk this path on our own but it will not work. The main message I want you to take from this is that we need guidance from God and direction from our Heavenly Father because we cannot do this alone. We cannot live this life on our own. We thrive because of Christ, we live because God blew His breath into our bodies not because our mother's age birth to us. We are living because God says that we can live, and we are thriving because He wants us to thrive. If we cannot even breathe without God how are we going to walk through life without Him. We need Him even for the smallest things in life, we cannot take a step without Him. The mistake we make is thinking that we can. 

All this to say, seek guidance and direction from the Lord, He knows what He is doing. Give Him a chance and trust Him with everything, He won't let you down. I can promise you that. 

Reflection

1. Have you tried to walk through life on your own?

2. What do you need God's direction for?

3. Do you believe that God's plan is greater and bigger than yours could ever be?

Prayer Time

Take the time to pray about what we discussed today. Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Ask God for guidance and clarity as you continue to follow Him. 

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 365!

Day 363: Direction: The Next Step

Psalm 25:4-5

Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

Psalm 31:3

Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

With New Years quickly approaching, and this year currently ending, this the time that people decide to make changes int heir lives. Everything from New Years Resolutions to deciding where to move or stay, many of us are entering a new chapter in our lives and closing the previous chapter. There's nothing more refreshing than starting New Year, to start with new goals, or continue those goals that you set for yourself this year. Many times we look at the New Year as another chance a new opportunity, to maybe get something right that we didn't before, to get rid of toxic habits or just vow ourselves to be better people. Whatever it may be we must seek God for direction. We are taking another step in our lives and we need to seek God so that He can guide us where we need to go.

Life is about progression, we move forward as time continues to move forward. As we walk as we continue to move forward we must make sure that we are following Christ in every way possible. The further we go the narrower the road might get or the harder it make be to make the decision to take the step that God has been preparing us to take. I feel like God prepares us for what He is about to do in our lives. He is taking us step by step to where He wants us to be. If you know that God is preparing you for something and you know that He leading you and guiding you to a certain place, please do not be afraid to step with Him. Do not be afraid to walk with Him. I don't know what your next step is but God does and that's good enough. For some of us taking the next step in our lives can be scary and intimidating, but what if God has been preparing you all year for this? What if we take a chance and believe that the dreams we have aren't just figments of our imaginations but they are tangible and God is taking us to meet them? What I'm saying is, take the next step of your life with Christ, don't try to do it without Him. Take the next step not just to follow your dreams but to grow closer to our Lord and Savior. To be more than we were before. To have a chance to grow in our faith and therefore grow in every other area of our lives. Take a step with Christ so that everything will fall into place, we are not going into this next year worried about the same things that worried us this year. So that we can start a new chapter in our lives with more faith in God, and a deeper understanding of who He is. But most importantly take a step with Christ because we love Him, because we don't want to walk through this life or any other life without Him. The next step includes growing closer to God, and whatever He has planned for you. Trust Him, and trust that where He is taking you is exactly where you are meant to be, because it is. 

All this to say, take a step with Christ, even if you don't know where your foot is going to land. Put the fear aside and push towards the destiny that God has set before you?

Reflection

1. What is your next step?

2. What is stopping you from taking that step?

3. If there is anything stopping you from taking a step with Christ, put it aside and know that God is taking you where you are meant to be. 

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayers. Take the time to talk to God about direction and ask Him for guidance as to where you are going and where He wants you to be. 

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 364!

Day 362:See It Clearly

Matthew 7:1-5

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Matthew 15:14

Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

Many of us know this verse, it's the staple verse for not judging people. We go to this verse because it tells us that we might be just as bad as the people we are trying to judge. We have to take care of ourselves before we can ever think about taking care of anyone else. While that is the direction we are going in today, I want to look at it from a different perspective. On order for us to lead people on a path of righteousness or lead people anywhere, we must see that path clearly. We must be able to see the path clearly for ourselves but also for the people following us. For the people who are looking at us to help them, we must know what that path looks like. I'm not saying that we must be perfect, I'm saying that before we can lead anyone else we must know the path for ourself. it is a dangerous thing to lead  people blindly. It's a dangerous thing to pretend that we are leading people towards Christ when in fact we are walking towards Christ ourselves. 

As people of God we are called to make disciples to lead people to Christ in any way we can. There is common road we are walking on and that path leads us to Christ. Many people are looking at us as an example of a Christ follower whether we know it or not, and many people are taking the steps we take to get closer to Christ. With that being said, the life we live matters. The way we walk, the way we talk, how we treat people, how we love is like a domino effect we show people the way to Christ. Now if we have the make up of a Christian but we are walking away from Christ, someone who is just coming to their faith or taking an example from our walk with Christ, they will be lead astray. What I'm saying here is to take care of ourselves before we try to take care of anyone else. We must make sure that we are right in our walk before we try to lead anyone else. As rewarding as it is to lead people to Christ, it is more important for us to make sure that we have a solid foundation in Christ before we can lead anyone else. We must make sure that our eyes are clear before we can look into anyone else's. I love the analogy of taking something out of the eye, because if we have something blocking our vision or getting in the way of what we can see, we will not be able to see anything clearly enough in someone else to diagnose it. 

All this to say, we must make sure that we are living a life that is pleasing to God. It is less about trying to live a life that others will want to follow and more about leading a life that God has called us to live. It's not our job to play God, but it i our job to serve and obey Him. When we are living the way God has told us to live, trust me, everything will fall into place. 

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to reflect on what we discussed today, examine yourself and ask God to examine your heart. Take the time to pray and talk to God about whatever is on your heart. 

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for 363!

For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our si

Day 361: Limitless Love

1 Peter 4:8
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.


The year is winding down pretty fast, and the devotionals as we head into the last few days of 2017 will be a lot about self-reflections nd direction. Taking the word of God and allowing it to influence how we live, how we speak, and everything we do. One of the greatest messages the bible teaches us is love, to love God first then love people. God loves us with an unconditional love, a love that covers our sins and a love that forgives. A love that would send His son to die on a cross for us. God commands us to love one another. Love is the one thing that has the power to break down barriers, stop hate, the power of love is greater than many of us will ever realize, because when we speak of the power of love we speak of the power of God because He is love. The power of love is evident when we are reminded of a perfect man name Jesus who hung on a cross in order to save humanity from our sinful nature. That;s the love that covered a multitude of sins. With the way things are going in the world right now, not just in America but everywhere we turn, we can see that this world needs love, if we need anything we need love. We need to love one another, we need to love our enemies, we need to love ourselves. Love is what we need. We need to be drowning in love and pouring buckets of it on our peers. 

One thing I want to point out is that Jesus love was unconditional, it was almost as if He did not care about what people had done because He was willing to forgive them. He came with he purpose of redemption, so even the people who nailed Him to a cross would in some way take part in the salvation He had to offer. Love didn't care about what they had done in the past, all that mattered was now and how we are going to live in the future. Jesus healed countless people who were considered sinners, and hung out with people who were said to be the worst types of sinners. Now most would think that a man like Jesus would  have nothing to do with such people. But no, those are the ones He came for. He came for the ones that people described as hard to love, the ones no one wanted to go near. He came for the one outcast by society and the ones who were said to be the biggest sinners of all sinners. His love extended to even them, the same way it extended to the ones who considered themselves righteous, and blameless without fault. I want to challenge you to love people the same way. 

Love people earnestly, compassionately, unconditionally. As we start a new year walk in love. Walk in unconditional love. Extending the same kind of love that Jesus extended to us. Let love overcome. Let love allow you to forgive. I know that many of us have been hurt by people and betrayed and people have just done things to us that make us not want to love them, or forgive them. But let the love that is in you be bigger than the anger and stringer than the grudges we hold so often. Think about how much Jesus loves us and how much we have done to hurt Him, yet He would die on a cross for us all over again if He had to. Let's love that way. A crucifixion type of love, that the very people that nail you to a cross you will pray to God for their forgiveness. That's how we should love people. It's also how we should love ourselves. God made us worthy of love, why do we so often act like love is not for us. Why do we think we cannot love ourselves. You are love and you deserve to be loved. 

Response/Prayer Time 

Take the time to respond to what we discussed today. Have a conversation with God about love! 

I love you! I hope you have a wonderful day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 362!

Day 359: Be Like John

John 3:1-6

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

John 3: 11

 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Many of us know who John the Baptist is, we know of Him and we know the work He did before Jesus. John was the one to come before the Messiah to prepare the way for when He got there. John preached a message of repentance, he came baptizing the people who repented of their sins. One thing that John made sure that everyone knew was, he was not the Messiah. In fact the Messiah is much greater than him. He is only preparing the way for when the Messiah comes. John came to start something that Jesus would come to finish. 

What I'm getting at here is, John was not Jesus, and he made sure that everyone knew that. John did not try to be Jesus, instead he did what he was sent to do, the same way Jesus did. I here many of us talk about how we are not perfect, and how we are not Jesus. First of all we are not called to be Jesus we are called to be like Him. We are called to mock the perfect man and get as close to perfection as possible. If we were all called to be the Messiah then God would never have sent His son to die on a cross for us because we could have saved ourselves. Instead we were sent a savior because we were and constantly are in desperate need of a savior. We ourselves are not the savior. With that being said, we may not be Jesus but we can be John. 

We can prepare the way for when Jesus comes. We can live a life dedicated to Him, leading His people to Him everyday. While we are on Earth I believe that we can take an example from John as well. We are not the Messiah but we are as close to the Messiah that people will see before Jesus actually makes His return. This does not mean that we are physically baptizing people everywhere we go, although some of us may end up doing that. What that means is being a Christ example. Being a person that follows Christ, ad lives off of His every word. We can be the people that preach a message of repentance, and grace, and love letting people know that their is something greater to life. Their is something bigger than ourselves, and understanding that even at our greatest moments Jesus is greater and He will do more than we can ever do. But in the meantime, while we are waiting for His return, let's prepare the way for the Messiah when He returns in the same way John did. 

Reflection

1. What life lessons can we learn from John the Baptist?

2. Are you living a life that points to Christ?

3. If you were the only bible that anyone ever read, or the closest thing to Jesus anyone ever sees, what would people see?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Have a conversation with God about what we talked about today. Whatever is on your heart today, pray about it. 

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 360!

Day 358: Doesn't Matter Where You Come From

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon[a] his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called[b]
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Matthew 1:23
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”  (which means, God with us).

Luke 2:7

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.

Merry Christmas Everyone! Today is the day we celebrate the birth of our savior. The birth of the promised Messiah. Even if December 25th wasn't the actual day He was born, I find it very wonderful that we have dedicated a full day to celebrating the gift that is Jesus Christ. A Savior that came in the body of a human. Jesus is the ultimate gift for us all.

Today let's talk about the miraculous conception and the humble birth of Jesus. Okay, imagine you're getting married to a woman and this woman is a virgin. This virgin woman comes to you and tells you that she is pregnant and you know it's not by you, so whose baby is it. She supposed to be a virgin or so she says. So  you prepare to leave her, but not openly you plan to do it in secret because you do not want to embarrass her. Then you find out that she was carry God's baby! God! She is carrying the Messiah. The angel tells you no to worry because she's giving birth to the savior so you listen. Now we can look at this two ways, from Joseph's initial shock, and wanting to separate from Mary and then realizing the miraculous conception of Jesus Christ. Now I'm sure this is something that only God himself to convince Joseph of, because things like this do not happen everyday, in fact it has only happened once in history. Joseph was ready to leave Mary, but can we blame him? You mean to tell me that I thought you were a virgin all this time and all of sudden you're pregnant. Something not adding up. It's impossible for you to be a virgin and pregnant, that doesn't happen. Joseph thought Mary was out here cheating, as anyone would. But the message here is that God makes the impossible possible and the illogical logical. Even though this was already prophesied I bet there were still questions as to how it would done. Maybe it was metaphorical, there's no way. But God made a way. He wanted to save the world and so He sent the Messiah. Jesus was a miracle from the very moment of His conception. The most miraculous conception known to man.

The birth of Jesus was very humbling. He was born in a manger, that's no place of luxury. By definition a manger is a long open box or trough for horses or cattle to eat from. It doesn't matter where you come from as long as you go where God tells you to, and be who He has called you to be. Jesus was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, He had to be laid in a manger because there was no room for Him anywhere else. Our king was laid in a place that live stock usually feeds off of. The savior of our world! That's a humble birth. Yet, He was still the Messiah because that is who He was born to be. Jesus was and is the greatest thing to ever happen to the world. The greatest man to ever walk this earth. The greatest gift we will ever receive. The most miraculous conception we will ever see. Yet this man was laid in a manger after His birth and raised in Nazareth.

What I'm saying here is allow yourself to submit to the plan God has for your life. It does not matter your circumstances or where you come from, because ultimately we are all children of God. Whether we were born with a silver spoon in our mouths or not, we are born through th blood of Jesus Christ. We are made in His image and given purpose because we are His. Don't let where are, or where you come from affect becoming the person God has created you to be. There a plan in store for all of us, while we all have different origins, we all come form one Father, and His breath is in all of us.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to think about what we discussed today, really consider it all and take it in. Pray in whatever way you feel lead.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening and enjoy you Holiday!

Day 357: Recap!

Merry Christmas Eve!

This week consisted of two series. The Life is Funny Series and the That's Life Series. We talked a lot about life this week, how it is unpredictable and how it is more that just a struggle and ultimately the kind of life we want to lead. So instead of doing a normal recap today I have an assignment for you all, instructions if you will. Take the time to go over what we discussed this week, just a bit of a review, if something spoke to you specifically, go back to that day and reflect on it.

1. Make a list of all the things you want to do with your life. Goals, dreams, aspirations, plans, everything.
2. Highlight all the parts of your life you want God to work on.
3. What is your perspective on life? How do you perceive things? How does your perception of life affect how you live?
4. How do you want you live your life in a way that will serve God and His people?
5. Make a vision board or start making one, you don't have to finish it today,  to have if ready by new year. On this vision board will be what you want it to be, how you visualize your life going in 2018. What do you want out of life? What do you expect God to do in your life?
*Keep a loose grips on your plans because God might change them.*
6. Make a promise to live the life god has destined for you, not for anyone else.

Take the time pray on all these things. Take the time and ask God for direction and allow Him to lead you.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 358!

Day 356: That's Life: Series (Part 4)

Matthew 6:33
 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Psalms 119:30
I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me.

Today's devo is not going to be long as it requires a lot of self reflection. The year is winding down and it's winding down fast. When we think about our lives we have to ask ourselves a few questions. What kind of life are we leading and does it mirror the life of Jesus, and is it according to the word of God. This week we have been getting  very real about life and the expectations that come with being a part of society. We have talked about leading a life based not the rules of society and gender norms. We have talked about how life is so much more than a struggle, we have to choose to see it in a different way. So I guess what I want to ask or talk about today is the type of life you want to lead. What type of life do you want to lead? I ask myself the same question. 

A huge part of being a Christian is choosing to live with God. It's making that choice everyday to walk with Christ and live according to His word, putting all things that are of the world away from us. We quickly learn that the core of this life is love. As we have talked about love and living this week, I want to ask a more detailed questioned. How will we live that will replicate the life of Jesus and being the person God has called us to be? What will we do with our life that will please Him? Are we going to love more, be more selfless, reach out to people? What are we going to do. to reach out to people? Can we live a life that does not abide by society's rules, man-made rules but by the law put forth by Jesus Christ. 

As we wrap this series up, essentially I want you to ask yourself, what is life? What is life to you, what do you see life as, what does it mean to you. This is a question that only we can answer for ourselves, no one else can give us the answer. Are we living the type of life we know is right and are we struggling to get there? Are we in a spot where we know we need to change our lifestyle, or continue to move and push forward. We must make a decision about the life we are going to lead and go ahead and do it. We cannot be on the fence about it, we have to decide. That's the challenge, to decide if the life we want to live matches the life we are living. If we want to live a life dedicated to Christ does the life we are living match the life Jesus lived? 

So take  the time to go over what we talked about this week. Take the time to access you life and the type of life you are living and the type of life you want to live. Talk to God about it, pray about it and make a decision. If you have never made the decision to follow Christ now is the time to make that decision. God loves us so much and He has a plan for each and everyone of us, we just have to choose to trust Him and His timing, and His plan. 

If you’ve never made the decision to follow Christ and you want to, or if you want to rededicate your life to Him, now is the time to do. Now is the time to make that decision. If you want to be brought into this magnificent promise of eternity, now is the time to make that decision. If that’s you if you want to make that decision, pray this prayer with me,

“Jesus I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour who died for my sins and was raised three days later. I repent of my sins and I give my life to you. I believe in my heart that you are the true living God. I pray that you shine your  light on me and bring me out of the darkness and into your light. I love you Lord. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen.”

If you made the choice to follow Christ, rededicate, or to submit your life to Him fully, Go to Romans 10:9-10

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

I love you so much and I hope you have an amazing day! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 357!

Day 355: That's Life: Series (Part 3)

Ephesians 5:11

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

Romans 12:10

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

John 13:34

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

As this series is almost coming to an end I want to discuss our lives as Christians. The Christian community does not always have the best reputation with the world, and I don't mean in a "He was persecuted therefore we are persecuted kind of way". What I mean is that there are a lot of people claiming to be Christians and love Christ while also spreading hate, being intolerant, and not acting in the way the Jesus did at all. Now I know that not every person who is Christian is this way, and the hateful Christians do not speak for us. Well they do, if we are not speaking up and doing anything. When the voice of hate is the only one you hear, it's pretty hard to believe that there is love. 

We are people who are called to love, we are called to spread the message of truth and share Jesus with people. As people of God we are called to live a life the resembles Christ in every way. We are called to love people and speak up for those without a voice. Somewhere along the line we have adopted the every man for them self idea and as long as we are doing well, everything is good. No, while we are not anyone's savior we are their way to the savior. It's hard to move forward when our brother or sister is stuck in a ditch. It's hard to overlook those who are hurting, or at least it should be. There are many people who are hurting and have been scarred by the church, and religious people who are full of hate and intolerance. As the world has changed this past year and sen so much tragedy and witnessed so much pain, now is the time to spread love. Life is loving people beyond what we see or agree with. I have seen people who call themselves Christians attack people of the LGBTQ+ community countless times. I can tell you right now that attacking someone into repentance and believing in Christ will never work I have seen racism in the name of Jesus. I have seen so many things take place that should not, done by people who call themselves Christians. We should not be living in a world where a church kicks someone out because they are gay. We should not be living in a world where pastors are more concerned with how someone is dressed for service or whether they have tattoos as opposed to their soul. We should not live in a world where religion and manmade rules takes the place of salvation and relationship. We are called to build a church and that means creating disciples, now I don't know if you noticed but the only one running with Jesus that was perfect was Jesus Himself. It is not our job to judge people it is our job to love them and lead them to Christ and He will do the rest. As we imitate the life of Christ we must learn to love like He does. We must learn to be compassionate like He is. We must learn to love people beyond their faults or whether or not we agree with their lifestyle or the choices they have made. One thing I know to be true is that Jesus was not intolerant. He was not arrogant, He did not walk around with a chip on His shoulder. Jesus is full of love and compassion and so are we. When Jesus came to save the world He did not ask every person what their  sin was and decide whether or not they could be forgiven or not, but He forgave them all. He did not ignore the sin or overlook it, He gave them a way out. 

What I am getting at here is, are we are people of God, the body of Christ living a life that will rebuttal what the world believes a Christian is or should be. Are we living a life full of love for His people, are we speaking up and stepping up when we see our neighbor has been wronged. Are we loving people unconditionally, or are we basing how we love someone on how great or small their sin is? People have told us that life is hard and life as a Christian person is harder but can we use what we have to make life a bit easier for our brother and sister? Can we use what God has given us to love the person who feels like they cannot be loved? Can we live a life that will go and pick the people up that have fallen. Can we live a life that lets God's people (that's everyone) know that we are there for them. Life is about being selfless, it's not a race to see how many people you can judge in a day or look down upon to prove you are better.  

All this to say, let's be a people that speak against hate with love. Let's be a people that will love every person whether we agree with their lifestyle or not. Also let's be a people that will stand up and show the world that their idea of Christianity is flawed. Let's do this by living like Christ, obeying His commands and loving people the way He loves them. 

Response/Prayer Time 

Take the time to respond to what we discussed today. Think about where you fit into this and pray for the body of Christ. Pray for the people who are hurting and take the time to commit yourself to living like Christ, and loving His people unconditionally. 

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow or Day 356!