Day 91: Oh My Soul.

Psalms 42:5

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation

Psalms 42:11

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him my salvation and my God.

Psalms 43:5

WHy are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me. Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.

I hope you're starting to see a pattern here. David repeats the same phrase three times within two short chapters. (The first two chapters of the second book of psalms, 42 and 43). He must really be trying to emphasize something by repeating the same phrase three times. I mean I was always told that people don’t intentionally repeat something just for their health. Whatever they said was so important that it had to be said a second time. Well whatever David was saying, it had to be said a second and third time. He’s really asking himself this question, and then responding to his own question. Almost as if He is asking Himself a rhetorical question, he already knows the answer to it. But I love that he reminds himself that God is bigger than His worries. Even when his soul is downcast he will put his hope in God and praise his name. There is always something to thank God for, no matter what your life looks like, there is always a reason to praise God, always. There is never a moment in our lives where God doesn't deserve praise. We can find a million things to thank Him for everyday.  

I believe that David had to remind himself of the God he serves. David was going through some hard times, and he had to make sure that his soul did not remain downcast. He had to give himself a little encouragement. I love that he asks himself this question and follows it up by saying put your  hope in God. Sometimes when our souls are down, we have to remind ourselves of the mighty God we serve. We have to remind ourselves of His faithfulness. David reminded himself three times, and he probably did many more times throughout his life. Sometimes we have to question ourselves and call ourselves out on the things we let get us down. Sometimes it is inevitable, some things will get to us and that's fine, but in the midst of it, don’t forget about the magnificent God we serve. Remember our wonderful and faithful father in heaven. A literal miracle worker.

When we look at David and everything he went through as we read about him in 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st Kings, and 1st Chronicles, we get a front row seat to his life. Then in 

Psalms we get a front row seat to his outlook or perspective on his life.  David is known to be a man, after God’s own heart. And even his soul was downcast at times, he had moments of doubt, and fear, and anger, heartache, and pain. But he put His hope in the Lord. Even the strongest people are weak sometimes, We learn to put our hope in the Lord, we learn to take control over our own spiritual wellness. We make a conscious decision to put our hope in the Lord. Even in our weakest moments we can find hope in the Lord, and there is also when we find strength. We are without a doubt aware that God is so much greater than us and our problems. We must not forget that the God we serve is; all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful. He is God over the hills and valleys. He’s got us.

Reflection/ Prayer Time

Respond to God today with whatever is on your heart, even if it’s pain, anger, anxiety, depression, joy, peace, happiness, whatever it may be. Good or bad, just offer your heart to the Lord today and talk to him. Remember that prayer is just a conversation with God.

I love you. I hope you have an amazing day or evening, and a great weekend. MAke sure you share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 92!

Day 90: Never Forsaken

Psalms 37:25

I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.

I grew up hearing this scripture, I could quote for as long as I could remember because it is one of the key scriptures in the bible that we all call on. It was until recently that I really understood the depth of these words, and how encouraging they were. This scripture does more than encourage us by telling us everything is going to be alright, no David is stating facts. He is saying what he has known to be true. God is faithful. I believe that this is something we can all attest to, as for me I can say that God has come through for me every time, even in the times where I had only a drop of faith. He never left me and He never will.

To encapsulate this scripture, or break it down a bit more, David starts by talking about His age. He says I have been young and now I’m old, and never have I seen the righteous forsaken, never. All his life, from when he was a little boy to the old man he is now, never has God forsaken His righteous people. As long as we are committed to the Lord and doing right by Him we will be okay. We don’t have to worry about a thing because He has us. He won’t abandon us, He won’t forget about us, because we are His people. We live our lives committed to Him and He provides everything we need and gives us the desires of our hearts.

It may seem like God has forgotten about us or He’s taking His time to get to us. But trust me He’s coming! He will come through, every single time.

The keyword in this sentence is righteous,the righteous will not be forsaken. See sometimes we think we can live any kind of way, and use God only when we need Him We must commit our lives to Him, if we want to be near God and near the cross we can’t be dipping and dabbing into the world. We have to choose our Master. I know the right choice but it's not mine to make, we each must choose for ourselves to live a righteous life committed to God.

David continues this scripture by saying, “...Or his children begging for bread.” this reminds of the prayers of my grandmother. Many of us credit the prayers of our mothers and grandmothers as the reason we are here today. When we live a righteous life, others in our lives will benefit from it. Not only will we for nothing but our children, and our family and the people connected with us will be taken care of.  God will take care of us, He will never forsake us, no matter what. He is faith, and we must be faithful to Him.

Reflection

1. Do you trust God?
2. Are you willing to let go of everything of this world in order to serve and live for Christ?
3. Have you ever had a moment when you thought the Lord forgot about you?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide you prayer today. Thank God that He is faithful and has never forsaken us. Just take the time to thank God for all the wonderful things He has done in your life.

Day 89: Dare to Dream.

We are all called to different things in this life, some of us are called to be pastors and missionaries, and work in the ministry or the church, but not everyone is called to do that work. That doesn’t make you less than anyone else it just means that God has a different plan and path for you.

Proverbs 18:16

A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before the great.

Proverbs 16:3

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

Too many times in the church I have seen young people swayed away from following their dreams because it was something outside of the church, it meant walking into worldly places, or it meant that we wouldn’t spend every waking moment in the church. I know this from experience. We grow up being told to chase our dreams and follow our hearts. When we come into the church, those words are changed to ‘find your calling’. We then must find out what it is that God wants us to do in this world. But honestly many of us already know the answer to this question, but we start to doubt because sometimes it doesn’t look holy enough. We start to put pressure on ourselves to find a job in the church and forcing ourselves to love doing it. At least we will look holy.

I will be the first to say that just because we are Christian does not mean we will have a career in ministry. Not all of us are meant to spend every minute in the church. Some of us need to be in hospitals, police stations, law firms, on sets and stages, in space, in the classroom, in business meetings etc. Christians actually need to be on the frontline of every outlet. Why do we suppress our passions, and those dreams burning inside of us. The problem with that is, when we decide to do something other than what God has called us to do we are going against His plan. We make our lives so much harder when we think we know it all. It’s so simple. God has given us all different gifts and talents, yet they all come from the same God. If everyone thought their calling was to be a priest the tabernacle would have never been built. If everyone thought they were kings, we wouldn’t have an army. God uses us in the areas we are in to build His kingdom and bring honor and glory to His name.

Our gifts will make room for us.  God didn’t give you the ability to play an instrument for no reason, play it to His glory. Just like david, his ability to play the harp put Him in the position to later become king.

I think the key to following our dreams is committing our ways to the Lord. Making sure that whatever we do, we do for the glory of God. Yes sometimes our gifts will take us away from the church but they won’t take us away from God. I think when we truly find our calling and do what its is we were put on this earth to do, that is when we will know a deeper level of intimacy with God. When we live the life He has planned for us, and not a life we think will please Him.

We know what the people on the outside are saying about the type of life we should live. But what does God say, and what do you say? I think many times as Christians we place ourselves between a rock and a hard place because we believe our passions, our dreams, the things we love the most are the things that will separate us from God. But that is not so, if God has given us the ability to do something, just taking that gift and using it is a way to honor Him. Our dreams do not separate us from God, if anything they should bring us closer to Him.

When I struggled with stepping down from being a youth pastor to return to acting the main thing I worried about was, will this interrupt my faith. I had that mindset because I was so comfortable where I was, I was safe within the walls of the church, but my spirit was slowly dying because I knew that  God wanted me somewhere else. The moment I committed to go back to acting, everything seemed to fall into place. Because I know that this is the life God has chosen for me, and I have never been closer to God than I am now.

-Dyamond

We must dare to dream, dare to go outside of the box of christianity, dare to do something outside of what religion has told us is okay. Sometimes we have to rebel in order to be in God’s will. That means applying for med-school, writing that song, majoring in science instead of theology. We have to rebel against religion and tradition. I think we all know where we want to to go in life, we all have dreams and we know what we are good at, know that those gifts will make room for you.

Another thing we must realize is that we must not have selfish ambitions. We are servants of Christ, we might be serving in a different way, never the less we are servants. That’s why the scripture tells us to commit our ways to the Lord. Commit those dreams, and goals, and passions to the Lord and watch them flourish.

Reflection

1. What are your dreams?
2. Do you believe that you can follow Christ and follow your dreams? Why or why not?

Prayer Time

Talk to God about following your dreams, find comfort in knowing that the things you are passionate about are the things that God has put in your heart. Ask Him to help you commit you ways to Him and remain humble. Talk to God about whatever is on your heart.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Share this with someone, and make the choice today to commit your ways to the Lord and follow those dreams.

Make sure you come back tomorrow for day 90!

Day 88: Dare to Live!

Today we’re going to continue this little series, talking about daring to live.

As young people we are on this constant search to live the best life we can, but many times we are reaching for that life we are not living it. But why not, why not live our best lives now, we have an idea of what a good life looks likes and anything short of that is not what we would consider a good life.  But I think living our best life means living knowing that we will spend eternity with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We don’t have to reach for that life, we can live it right now, it was freely given to us 2500 years ago when Jesus died on the cross.  Truly living is living with the Lord everyday, that’s a good life.

Proverbs 21:21

Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.

John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

We have to ask ourselves what it means to actually live and what a good life looks like? When we are living with and for Christ that is when we are truly living.  When we pursue righteousness and kindness we will find life, that’s what the scripture tells us. Too many times I have had conversations with young people who have said they are going to wait until they are older to give their life to Christ. When asked why they had this mindset, their response would always be, “I just want to live.” I was always astounded by that response because Christ is life, we are not truly living until we are living in Him. It confuses me that so many people look at this lifestyle as an end to something, my friends it is the very beginning to an eternity, When we think that giving our lives to Christ will result in us not being able to live we must re-evaluate what it is that we view as truly living.

The scripture tells us that Christ came to give life and give it more abundantly. I think we are afraid to live for Christ because we don’t want to let go of our attachments to this world. We think that we can’t have fun living with Christ. But that is not true, if anything we have more fun, we are more free to live. We have no worries, we are stress free, guilt free, drama free, we are just free.  

I want to challenge everyone today to dare to live. Dare to give our lives to Christ, dare to give up what we think is living for what is truly living. Dare to pursue righteousness and live. What we don’t understand is that Christ is the key to the beginning of life and the end to eternal damnation. When we make the choice to live with and for Christ, we make the choice to live. Not only are we living for the moment but we are committed to an eternity. Living for Christ is living our best life. It is the best life we could ask for. It was given to us by Christ laying down His life. When someone lays down their life for us, it is only natural to want to live for them. He came to give us life, why do we act like it’s not real. Why do we push it aside until we decide it’s time to get right. We tend to push Christ to the side and only pick Him up when we need Him. We bargain with Him, “IF you do this, then I will live right.” I wonder what would have happened if Jesus had that same attitude toward us, what if he decided that he wasn’t going to lay down His until we all decided to believe in Him. Oh, we would not be saved. But Christ dared to lay down His life for a people full of sin. He dared to give His life for people He knew would never give their life to Him, because His love for us is just that great. So why can’t we live for Him. Why can’t we accept the life He has given us. Why are we obsessed with the idea of living outside of Christ, and when we’re done, then we’ll decide to settle down with the Lord. We must understand that life outside of Christ is not truly life at all, it is damnation. The only life worth living is one that is subject to the will of the Lord, one that is committed to Him and his Kingdom. That’s living.

Reflection

1. What is your definition of living?
2. Are you trying to live your life outside of Christ?
3. How different would your life look if you dared to live for Him?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Ask God to help you understand that the only life worth living is one that is dedicated to Him.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 89!

Day 87: Dare to Love!

John 15:12-13

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Luke 10:30-37

30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.

31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant[d]walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.

33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins,[e] telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’

36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.

37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”

Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

Love takes risks, we have to take a chance on loving people sometimes. This means putting ourselves on the line for our friends and for other people. Love is selfless. Love is willing to lose in order to help someone else across the finish line.

I came across a video today of the Love run. When a woman was too weak to cross the finish line, two men aided her towards the finish line as hundreds of other people passed her up, in efforts to finish the race themselves. As they got closer another man came and carried her to the finish line, and when he got her there he put down to allow her to cross the finish line herself. He did not make this victory about himself by carrying her across the finish line but he helped her to it.

We have to choose as followers of Christ to be the one person to stop and help someone in need. We have to be the person that’s going to take a lost so that someone else can win and in the end it’s not about winning or losing it’s about selfless love.

Our generation is sometimes obsessed with self, we are so focused on winning and doing things for ourselves that we forget that there is a whole world outside of us. There are people who need love, and if we are so consumed with loving ourselves or making sure we are winning do we really have time for anyone else? Do we really have time to sacrifice, and love people like Christ loved us? Jesus was not concerned about himself when He came to earth, he was concerned with His people, his focus was on us. His love was geared toward even the people that hated Him. Our generation is also consumed with only loving those who love us, only doing for those who do for us. But what about the people who don’t love us, what about the people who could care less about us, can we dare to love them. Can we dare to carry them to the finish line.

The story of the Good Samaritan is so profound because, there was so much strife between the jews and Samaritans at this time, racial tensions between the two groups of people, which is why he is called a “despised Samaritan”, Yet he was the only one to even consider stopping to help this man, knowing the troubles between he and this Jewish man, he was willing to put that aside and see a need that needed to be met. Knowing that there was a possibility that this man would hate him he still took a chance. We have to be the same, even when we are despised, even when it’s not about us, even when we know we will get nothing in return; we must dare to love. It is the only thing that will keep this world from  completely falling apart. We must dare to love selflessly in a world that is so selfish. We must be the ones to make the choice to go back for the person that everyone has stepped over. We must be willing to help our enemies. We must learn to risk it all for love. It will be worth it.

Reflection

1. Would you be willing to take a loss so that someone else can win?
2. Do you consider yourself a selfless person?
3. How far will you go to make sure someone knows they are loved by you?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Talk to God about what it means to love like Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day/evening. Make sure you share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 88!

Day 86: Recap

It's recap Sunday everyone.

Day 79: Push Yourself

Today we talked about pushing ourselves. Being able to pray for, and encourage ourselves when there is no one else around or no one to call. We focused on the scriptures 1 Samuel 30:6, and Philippians 3:12.

"We also have to push ourselves when we are tired, when we are ready to give up, when it’s too painful, when everything is telling us to quit. We have to push ourselves. If we want that blessing, if we want that life of eternity with Christ, we must push ourselves to keep going even when we think we can’t take it anymore."

Day 80: But...

Today we talked about the hope in 'but..', when we see this word in a sentence we know that it's not over, there's more to come. We focused on the scripture Psalms 31:14.

"There’s always a but, there’s always an answer. But we have to look up from our sorrow and our heartache and the bad situation we are in and look to where we will find hope."

Day 81: Burdened with Sin

Today we talked about carrying the weight of sin and not being held down by our iniquities, and knowing that just because we are born into sin does not mean we have to stay in sin. We focused on the scriptures, Psalms 32:5 and 31:10.

"We cannot allow our souls to rot in a sinful hole because we are too shameful or too embarrassed to go to God, or we’re too full of pride. We all sin, believe it or not."

Day 82: Comfort Zones

We talked about comfort zones today and how detrimental they are to our spiritual growth. We focused on Joshua 1:9 and 2 Timothy 1:7.

"What keeps us from stepping outside of those comfort zones many times is fear.... Most of the time it’s fear... All of the time it’s fear. We are afraid of what will happen, where we will go next. But we must know that God is on the other side of fear. As long as we have faith in Him, as long as we have a relationship with God there is nothing to fear."

Day 83: A Step in the Right Direction

Today we had a guest writer, a friend of mine Alex Molloy. Talking about going in the direction God has laid before us. We focused on Proverbs 3:5-6.

" In order to commit to the God direction for your life, you must first submit. Submit to commit! Living a life where submission precedes direction results in God making all your paths straight."

Day 84: An Anchor for My Soul

Today we talked about being unshakable and unmovable as Christ is the anchor for our souls. Focusing on Psalms 46:5.

"Essentially we are the boat and God is the anchor. The water, wind,  and waves are the things getting in the way. The things that would move us if we did not have a strong foundation in the Lord. We are living in a world where the wind blows every which way, and very strong winds I might add. We live in a world where the current of the water is constantly changing. If we do not have something to hold on to or something to ground us we will get thrown from place to place, position to position, and find ourselves picking up and starting over for the rest of our lives. If we do not find something to keep us still, we will move every time the wind moves, we will float away with the current. But when our souls are anchored in Christ we are unmovable, and unshakable."

Day 85: An Anchor for My Soul

Psalms 46:5
God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.

When we think of the image of an anchor, and what it is meant to do, we can easily see the spiritual connection between the anchor for a boat and the anchor for our souls. An anchor is used to dock a boat, that means that when the current changes or when the wind blows a certain way the boat or ship will not move. It will stay in place, it might move a little bit but as long as the anchor is attached it can only go so far. It will not drift into se, because the anchor is what is keeping it in place, and keeping it from moving any further than it should go.

It is the same for our souls. Essentially we are the boat and GOd is the anchor. The water, wind,  and waves are the things getting in the way. The things that would move us if we did not have a strong foundation in the Lord. We are living in a world where the wind blows every which way, and very strong winds I might add. We live in a world where the current of the water is constantly changing. If we do not have something to hold on to or something to ground us we will get thrown from place to place, position to position, and find ourselves picking up and starting over for the rest of our lives. If we do not find something to keep us still, we will move everytime the wind moves, we will float away with the current. But when our souls are anchored in Christ we are unmovable, and unshakable. When God is the anchor that holds us down then we will not go with the wind. Our faith will be tested, sometimes, those waves and winds will be so strong that we can barely stand, but our anchor is stronger. Our anchor has all control, our anchor won’t let us fall, our anchor will pick us up when we start to sink. We might sway, we might stumble a bit but we will not be moved. It may come our way but our faith in God is stronger. We will not be shaken and we will not be moved because the Holy Spirit lives in us, and is making sure that we stand firm in this walk. So that when anything comes our way, when anything tries to knock us down or move us, we will not be moved. God is holding us down, He has us. When Christ is our anchor it is almost like we’re made of bamboo, we will bend but we will never break.

Reflection

1. Do you have an anchor for your soul?
2. What winds or waves are the strongest in your life?

Prayer Time

Allow your answer to the above questions guide your prayers. Talk to God about the winds and waves in your life, whatever they may be give it God. Find comfort in knowing that He will not allow you to be moved or shaken, just allow Him to be the anchor for your soul.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Make sure you share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 86!

Day 84: A Step In the Right Direction by Alex Molloy

Today we have another guess writer, Alex Molloy a friend of mine. Alex is the Service Pastor of Story Philly in Center City Philadelphia. He is an amazing person and has a heart for Jesus and I am beyond excited to share that with you today. Enjoy!

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.
These are the words of 35th president JFK

As I look back on my life, my path has led me to a series of wonderful places; starting in London, with stops in Paris, Beijing and Sydney along the way, my path has wound itself to the east coast of America, namely Philadelphia. I’ve experienced hot weather and cold weather, great hospitality and great hostility along the way, but one thing is for certain. If you asked me where I’d be in 10 years as a 16 year old in school, Philadelphia probably wouldn’t have been on my radar. Being the service pastor of Story Philly, a center city church certainly wouldn’t have.

The truth is the destination I often found myself at when I was living a life away from my family and more importantly ignoring the call of God upon my life was always riddled with turmoil and discontent. The reason for this? My direction was way off. Any great pioneer arms him or herself with a compass, and mine wasn’t working, and when it did, I chose to ignore it. Because of that,  I found myself on the wrong path.

You see, whatever road you’re on determines where you end up, the path taken determines the destination. If I planned on driving to L.A., route 40 may be a good start, I-95N wouldn’t as I’d end up in Canada before long. Canada is a lot colder than California. Living life on the wrong path can result in destination a lot colder and more barren than intended and expected (no shade to Canada, it’s a beautiful place). You see, it’s not about intentions and expectations but rather direction.

Intentionality often seems great and noble. God however, isn’t interested in those with good intentions but those who display good actions and embody just characteristics. Too often it can be said about this generation that we’re slow to move, capable of recognizing the need, but end up doing nothing. Don’t be a we-really-ought-to-do-it-but-do-nothing kind of person. Because as Pastor Andy Stanley puts it, direction, not intention, determines destination. It’s the steps of the righteous that God orders and delights in, not the intentions.

Aha, so we need to be taking steps. And in front of me seems like a million and one different paths I could take. What should my next step be? There’s a little saying I’m beginning to live by; DO THE NEXT RIGHT THING.

Doing the next right thing can seem very difficult with a lack of information which we all have. It’s important to know that decisions made today have ramification later on. The path you take now in your 20s impacts your 30s. We can never know all the possible outcomes each path we choose to live will have. In order to do the next right thing, it’s not about trying to predict the future.

Proverbs 3:5
In every arena of life, trust in God, lean hard into Him, lean not into your own understanding

When it comes to the choice of our life paths I make the common mistake to think I’m wise enough to be able to lean on my own understanding. What God tells us to do is the complete opposite of this. There is no need to try to predict and decipher every possible outcome to any possible decision. All we need to do is trust in God and allow him to lead us. How do we do this? The next line of the proverb shows us:

Proverbs 3:6
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

When we live our lives submitting every single compartment of our hearts, our minds and our decisions to God and Heaven’s story, He will make your paths straight. It’s as simple as that (note I said simple not easy!). In order to commit to the God direction for your life, you must first submit. Submit to commit! Living a life where submission precedes direction results in God making all your paths straight.

There are so many things we entrust God with essentially because we have no choice or control in the matter such as eternity or our health. However, what God wants is that same trust and faith with what we do have control over; our relationships, our jobs, our finances and what we do with our time. Evaluate a relationship, a job or any decision on where it’s heading, not where it is.

One of the most important characteristics of a leader is one who knows what direction they’re heading and are relentless in their pursuit forward. Submit to commit, live with a God component in every single compartment of my life and be faithful with what is in your hand.

Reflection/ Prayer Time

As you pray ask yourself if you on the “God path”? Talk to God about what it means to be in His will and going in the direction that He is pointing. As you pray, ask God for direction and seek that direction knowing that He is pointing you the right way. Even when it looks a little gloomy, He’s pointing you in the right direction, have faith and move according to His will.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Make sure you share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 85!