Day 32: Going Through the Motions

Ask yourself, Why am I a Christian? Why do I serve God? Why did I give my life to Christ?

How many times have we gone to church just because we did not want to feel bad for not going? Or because, that’s how we were raised? How many times have we prayed because we’re christian and that’s what we’re supposed to do. Or read our bibles just to get our time with God “out of the way.” How often to we get set in the routine of being a Christian? Go to church every sunday, bible study once a week, read the bible for at least an hour everyday, pray before we go to sleep to secure that our conscious is clear. Then repeat. I know that I am very guilty of these things. Sometimes we get to a point where we start to serve God out of obligation and nothing else. We feel like doing things for God takes the place of doing things with God or spending time with Him. We go through the motions because we feel like we have no other choice, we feel forced to serve God, so we stick to a routine that we think will please Him. Serving god is so much more than a routine.

Psalms 51:16-17 (MSG)

Going through the motions doesn’t please you,

   a flawless performance is nothing to you.

I learned God-worship

   when my pride was shattered.

Heart-shattered lives ready for love

   don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.

How we look as a Christian means nothing when it’s just a facade, and that’s what going through the motions is. We put on the mask of a Christian, instead of the lifestyle. To cover up what’s really going on inside of us, we do what we think will please God, and what will make us look like a Christian. We go out of our way to prove our commitment to our faith. But are we really committed if it’s just a mask, something we can take on and off as we please? The problem with going through the motions is there is no growth, only stagnation. We stay in one place but we look like we’re moving. We’re doing a lot of 360 turns and ending up right back in the same place, and that’s “good enough” for us, because we’ve learned to imitate growth.   

What’s the use of going to church if we leave the same? Why read a bible if it doesn’t change our hearts, or influence our lifestyle? Why pray if it’s only to show how good of a Christian we are? Why not have a real relationship with God? Why not pour ourselves into Him and give Him all that we are? We are His children, there’s so much more to gain for serving Christ. There’s so much to learn, so much He wants to give us. But we stay at the surface level by just going through the motions. That doesn’t please God, perfection (as if we can attain it) doesn’t please God. What God wants is our hearts, He’s wants our honest selves, a heart that even when it’s broken is willing to worship. It’s in those moments when we choose to go a little deeper than just going to church, or skimming through the passages of the bibles in our laps, that we learn that worship isn’t something we do it’s who we are. When we choose to serve God because we love Him and want to know Him and want to have an intimate relationship with Him, that’s when we stop going through the motions. That’s when surface-level worship halts. When it’s not about an image or looking good, but it’s about being in need of a Savior and wanting one. We all know we need God but when we want Him, that’s when that thirst in us is quenched. We have to want God more than we want air.  

Reflection

1. Take a look at your life, how it is right now. Are you going through the motions?
2. What do you think keeps us at this ‘surface-level’ worship?
3. How can that be changed?
   
   

Prayer Time

Depending on your answers to the previous questions, how might God be speaking to you right now? Talk to him, and listen to what He might be saying to you. Talk to God about whatever resonated with you today. Be honest with Him, and remember that prayer is just a conversation with Him, make sure you listen as well.

Day 31: BELONG

By: Natalie Bermudez

Belong- : to be attached or bound by birth, allegiance, or dependency

:  to be an attribute, part, adjunct, or function of a person or thing

Having a sense of belonging, usually comes from acknowledging the following:

• realizing you’re not alone
• discovering your purpose is

connected to a bigger picture

• owning what you’re apart of  

When we realize that we belong to God’s greater mission, we immediately plug into a huge panorama of what He has planned. All of a sudden we see we are so tiny in this greater picture, but our part within it, is just as important! God calls us to belong to His royal family (1Peter 2:9). A family described as a HOLY NATION, A LIGHT, but more importantly to declare HIS PRAISES.

1 Thessalonians 5: 5-8

For you are all sons of light and sons of day. We do not belong to the night nor to darkness.  So then let us not sleep [in spiritual indifference] as the rest [of the world does], but let us keep wide awake [alert and cautious] and let us be sober [self-controlled, calm, and wise].  For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we [believers] belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope and confident assurance of salvation.

Let us be people who know who we belong to, where we belong and how we are to live according to our belonging!

Reflection

1. Take a step back and look outside of self for a minute, and think about God’s grander plan. Think about what that bigger picture is. What part do you play in this big picture? How does it feel to be a part of or better yet, belong to something so much bigger than yourself?

Prayer Time

As you reflect on what you read today, thank God that His plan is much bigger than yours. Talk to God about what it means to be a part of His royal Family and accept the gift He is giving. Seek an answer from Him. Remember that prayer is just a conversation with God.

Day 30: Recap

 Hello everyone, I hope you are enjoying your Sunday. Today just take the time to rest in Christ. Reflect on whatever stood out to you this week, and share it. This week we will have a guest writer, a very great friend of mine, Singer, songwriter Natalie Bermudez. Enjoy you day, have fun and come back tomorrow for Day 31. Make sure you follow the blog.

Day 29: You're You, for a Reason

 

Often in the Christian faith we do not talk about being ourselves. We talk about giving ourselves up, we talk about being like Christ. We talking about changing our lives to look like Christ. But we never really talk about what it means to ‘be yourself’. I know we are supposed to give up our lives of sin in exchange for eternity through Christ. I know that we are all called to fulfill God’s plan. I know we have a purpose, but does that mean I stop being Dyamond. Do I stop being the goofy, laid back, weirdo I have always been? How do I find the balance between the human Dyamond and the Christian Dyamond? Truth is they should not be separate. - Dyamond

First off who we are as a human being and who we are as a follower of Christ should not be separate. We do not live two separate lives. I think there are many things stopping us from truly being ourselves. Especially us who are christians. The ultimately question is, am I allowed to have my own personality or does it conflict with my christian lifestyle? Do I have to give up my individuality?

Romans 12:4-6

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;

1 Corinthians 12:14-18

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

1 Corinthians 12:27

Now you are Christ’s body, and individual members of it.

1. We are not meant to be Christ-serving robots. Just because we give our lives to Christ does not mean we give up our individuality. God made us all different. He made us all different shapes and sizes, it's our DNA our psychology. We are all wired differently.  It’s the little things that make us who we are, and we must remember that God created those parts of us too, Every inch of our being was created by the hands of God, He knows us inside and out.  
2. Another thing that keeps us from being ourselves  is that we identity sin with self. Meaning that the moment we give our lives to Christ we are under the impression that every inch of our being is corrupted by sin. So if we want to be closer to Christ, we start to change our personal being. WE ARE NOT OUR SIN!!! Sin is what we do it’s not who we are. Who are we outside of our sin? That’s what we have to get to. When we push aside the sin, and insecurities, and bad habits, etc. Who are we? We sin because we are imperfect but we are not known by the sins we’ve committed. God does not call us by our sin.
3. Other people make us think that we are not enough, or that we need to be and do more. We see the lives of others and think we are supposed to look like them.

We cannot change who God made us to be, He made us the way we are for a reason. If everyone was walking around looking the same way, speaking the same way, life would be so boring. Sure we are all one body and we are one in the body of Christ but even the body has different jobs to uphold, the body has different parts that work together to funtion as a living breathing body. The foot cannot do what the leg can do, and the the eyes can’t do what the toes can do. As we are all individual we work together as the body of Christ to move forward. We all play a role in this life, and no matter what that role is, no matter how different it looks from the next person we have to be ourselves. We cannot be the legs and try to be the arms the next day because it feels like it’s not working out. God made each and everyone one of us individually. We must learn to be comfortable in the skin God gave us. We have to be ourselves, because no one else can be it for us. There’s no better you, than you. A lot of times we waste our time trying to be something else because we make assumptions as to who people perceive us as. We have to accept the person God made us to be, and be that. If your laid back, be laidback, if you’re more goofy than others, more stern or serious. Whoever you are, do not lose your individuality. Who are we when we are home alone, or hanging out with friends? Are we the outgoing type? Are we more quiet? what differentiates us from the next person? That’s what I’m talking about, when everything is stripped away will we still have our identity?

Keep in mind that being yourself does not mean being the sinful person we were before we came to Christ, or continuing to stay in those habist that separate us from God in the name of being ”Who we are”.

Reflection

1. Think about what it means to be yourself. What does that look like?
2. How has your personality changed since you've come to Christ?
3. Do you make assumptions about what people think of you?

Prayer Time

Today keep it simple, just talk to God about yourself, thank Him for making you the person you are. Ask Him to help you understand who that is, and to be comfortable in the skin He gave you.

Day 28: There Is A Savior (The Missing Piece)

Do you ever just feel incomplete, not empty but like something’s missing? Do you ever feel like you are on an endless search for a missing piece but you don’t really know what it is? If you do, or did that’s what we’re going to talk about today. The missing piece. At one point or another we were all looking for something to complete us, we want that one thing that will give us permanent fulfillment, and eternal happiness. Some of us are probably still looking. We all want to feel complete, we want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.

We all have a God-shaped hole in our hearts, and no matter how good we feel at times, or how complete we think we are, until we allow God into our hearts we will always be and feel incomplete.

Colossians 2:9-10

For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

Christ completes us, as the scripture says above. Christ is the only thing that can fulfill every one of our needs, We are because He is, we live because He died, we thrive and continue to live because He rose again. Christ has been and forever will be the missing piece. Before Christ came to Earth to save us, we were in the need of a Savior. We were missing something only He could provide us with, salvation, healing, forgiveness.  Many times we are seeking Christ without knowing we are seeking Christ and it is mind-blowing. We are looking ultimately for a savior. We are seeking to fill the voids within ourselves with an eternal, or permanent unconditional love. We want to belong to something bigger than ourselves. We want to know that there is someone or something watching over us. We want a place to turn when times get rough. We want a hand to hold, a shoulder to cry on. We want a safe haven. All that says is that we want a Savior. Well let me tell you my friends, there is a savior and His name is Jesus.

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!

   She will give birth to a son,

and they will call him Immanuel,

   which means ‘God is with us.’” (Matthew 1:23)

He is our safehaven, he holds our hand and walks with us, he took our sins on His back. He is always watching us, He never takes His eyes off of us, and there is no love greater than His.

Christ completes us because He is everything we’re not and more. We are flawed, imperfect, we are sinners saved by Jesus Christ the Messiah. But we serve a perfect God, who makes up for our imperfections, and through unity with Him we are made complete. The scripture says that we are made complete through union with Christ. One of the synonyms for union is fusing or fusion which is the process or result of joining two or more things together to form a single entity. 1 Corinthians 6:17 says But the person who is joined (united) to the Lord is one spirit with him. When we give our lives to Christ we become one with Him. We receive the gift of Salvation and we live our lives with God, We devote ourselves to Him and we live according to His words, we obey His commands, and hang on to His every word. Our lives line up with the life Jesus lived. Then we are complete. This is the union in which we are completed. It can only be found in Christ.

Reflection

1. What does it mean or look like to live with God.
   
   
   
   
2. How does the saying “looking for love in all the wrong places” relate to today’s topic.
3. Where did you go to fill the voids, or find the missing piece before you gave your life to Christ?
4. If you haven’t given your life to Christ I’d like to open that gate and offer you the opportunity to make that choice today.
   
   

Prayer Time

If you have found that you are looking for love outside of Christ or you feel incomplete, talk to Him about that. Pour out your heart to Him, flaws and all. Rest in that fact that Christ is the only one who can truly complete you, and His love never runs out. So wherever you are in your life, it’s never too late to turn to or turn back to HIm. I want to give you that opportunity, whether you are turning to Him for the first time, or giving your life back to Him. Know that His arms are wide open and He is accepting you as a mother takes in her lost child. Rest in that.

Take some time, if you feel the holy spirit tugging on your heart, respond to Him today.

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.

And repeat these few words,

Jesus I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour who died for my sin 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. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen.

Congratulations! The angels in heaven are rejoicing right now.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 29 and everyday for the rest of the year!

Cornerstone- Hillsong Worship

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus name

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly trust in Jesus name

Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all

When Darkness seems to hide His face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
My anchor holds within the veil

Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all
He is Lord
Lord of all

Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all

Christ alone; cornerstone
Weak made strong; in the Saviour's love
Through the storm, He is Lord
Lord of all

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless stand before the throne.

Day 27: Our Cornerstone

Cornerstone

• an important quality or feature on which a particular thing depends or is based.
• a stone that forms the base of a corner of a building, joining two walls.

Christ is the very foundation we stand on, with our feet planted firmly in Him we will not fall. He holds us up.

Ephesians 2:14-22

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility  by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.  For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

1. A cornerstone holds two walls together as the definition above says. This passage is evidently about Jesus, and Paul is speaking about how Jesus has brought people together (the Jews and the Gentiles). He reconciled us all to God through the cross, He came to save everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike and made us one within the body of Christ. Because of this we are no longer divided, He holds us together. Christ is the cornerstone that brought us together and keeps us together. We are to live in community as one body, not divided. Christ brought unity, He brought all of us together to be one. Without Him we would be divided and therefore could not stand. Christ is the base of this body and He’s not moving. We are meant to be in community with one another. We aren’t supposed to compete or be separated, whether by denomination, race, or class. We serve one God, we are one people. Let’s not divide ourselves, but live in unity with our brothers and sister in Christ.
2. A cornerstone is also an important quality or feature on which a particular thing depends or is based. Jesus is our cornerstone and our very being depends on Him. Our life is based on Christ, we follow the example He gave us, and we depend on Him to live. Christ holds us up, He is our foundation, it is only through Him that we have life. We depend on His teachings and we stand on His word because only He can sustain us. Without a foundation we crumble. Without Christ we fall apart, we need Him to stand,He is the solid foundation on which we stand. Jesus is everything we need.  
   
   

Reflection

What does it mean to have Christ as the foundation of your life?

Prayer Time

Take the time to pray for your community and those around you. Pray for unification in the body of Christ.  

Make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 28! Have and awesome day!

Even When It Hurts - Hillsong United

Make sure you read today's devo, Walls

Take this fainted heart

Take these tainted hands

Wash me in your love

Come like grace again

Even when my strength is lost

I'll praise you

Even when I have no song

I'll praise you

Even when it's hard to find the words

Louder then I'll sing your praise

I will only sing your praise

Take this mountain weight

Take these ocean tears

Hold me through the trial

Come like hope again

Even when the fight seems lost

I'll praise you

Even when it hurts like hell

I'll praise you

Even when it makes no sense to sing

Louder then I'll sing your praise

I will only sing your praise

I will only sing your praise

I will only sing your praise

I will only sing your praise

And my heart burns only for you

You are all you are all I want

And my soul waits only for you

And I will sing till the morning has come

Lord my heart burns only for you

You are all you are all I want

And my soul waits only for you

And I will sing until the miracle comes

I will only sing your praise 

I will only sing your praise

I will only sing your praise

Even when the morning comes

I'll praise you

Even when the fight is won

I'll praise you

Even when my time on earth is done

Louder then I'll sing your praise

I will only sing your praise

Day 26: Walls

Wall(s)

• a rampart raised for defensive purposes.
• an immaterial or intangible barrier, obstruction, etc.

Our Generation does not like to be vulnerable, we spit on feelings. We want to be seen as tough and careless. We act as if nothing gets to us but deep down we’re hurting, we’re being torn apart. But we refuse to let it show, instead we  build (metaphorical) walls. We build walls around our hearts to protect ourselves. What we don’t realize is that building a wall to cover up the pain is like putting a band-aid on a wound that needs stitches, it'll fix it temporarily but it will never heal completely.

In our twenties we will face a ton of pain, and heartbreak, and that is what drives us to harden our hearts to the point that we let no one in. As a defense mechanism, we isolate ourselves out of the fear that we will be hurt. We anticipate that people are out to get us before we know for sure. Therefore we try to protect ourselves before anything happens. We give only a glimpse of who we really are so that no one can judge us. We wear a mask so that no one can see the real pain. We make ourselves numb to any type of feeling so we won’t feel the pain.  Sometimes we’ve built our walls so high that we won’t even let God in, the one person we can fully trust with our heart is the person we hide it from. We refuse to give him the pieces to repair, when we know only He can do it. Why is that?

Psalms 147:3

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Ezekial 36:26

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

If we know that God is a healer, He can love us pass the pain, and that He will never hurt us, why do we hide from Him? Why do we turn away from healing when we need it the most?

I remember being sixteen and giving my life to Christ. I was in so much pain, this pain is what led me to Christ, I was completely and utterly broken. I had no idea who I was or where I was going, all I knew is that I was hurting and covering it up wasn’t helping anymore, I was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. I had built so many walls, and hid behind so many different identities, and I was comfortable in the little shell I was in. No one could reach me to hurt me, but that did not change the fact that I was hurting. All it did was build, and before I knew it I exploded everything that I had been hiding, all the pain that turned into anger just came out, and it left me feeling empty. I had to make a conscious decision to allow Christ into my heart to heal me.

-Dyamond 

We have gotten comfortable behind our walls, life has gotten bearable and the pain has eased enough for us to get through the day. We find a glimpse of happiness and moments when we can genuinely smile. But we have so many walls around our heart that we sometimes forget that they are there. We convince ourselves that we are okay when we are not. We're “fine”, even though we’re crying on the inside. We’re alright until someone asks us if we’re alright. Friends, that is not how we are supposed to live. Just because the pain is bearable doesn’t mean we that we have to carry it. We don’t have to walk around with a heavy heart, we don’t have to walk around suffering because we’re afraid to ask for help. Our healing is in Jesus. When we can’t turn to anyone we can turn to God. Why is it that so often He is our last resort. He loves us so much, He doesn’t want to see us in pain. We have to open ourselves up to Him, because if we don’t we will only destroy ourselves. No one can sooth the pain like Jesus, no one can love us like God. Nothing can take the place of God in our hearts no matter how hard we try. He can rip through the walls to reach us, but will we take His hand or continue building walls. He can take the pieces of our heart and make it new, He can take the heart of stone and make it a heart of flesh, and not only that, He will protect our hearts. When we give our lives to Christ we give our hearts to Him, every inch of it, even if it’s in pieces, because He can repair it. He can love us through the pain, He can love us through the anger, His love can tear our walls down. Whatever it may be, give it to God, we don’t have the bear the pain of a broken heart because God is our healer. Whatever is broken, He can fix it, we just have to be willing to let Him do it.

Reflection/Prayer Time

After reading today, check in with yourself. Are you okay, if you are hurting right now, or find that you have isolated yourself out of fear of being hurt, surrender it all to God. Whatever you are going through lay it at the cross, know that you do not have to go life constantly hurting. Give your heart to God even if it’s in pieces, He can mend it for you. Open your heart to God, let down your walls, let Him in. Surrender it all to Him, let Him take the burdens and the pain, it’s no longer yours. Trust in the healing power of Jesus Christ, He will make you whole.