Day 292: This Beautiful Image

Psalms 23

1The Lord is my shepherd;

   I have all that I need.

2 He lets me rest in green meadows;

   he leads me beside peaceful streams.

3     He renews my strength.

He guides me along right paths,

   bringing honor to his name.

4 Even when I walk

   through the darkest valley,

I will not be afraid,

   for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff

   protect and comfort me.

5 You prepare a feast for me

   in the presence of my enemies.

You honor me by anointing my head with oil.

   My cup overflows with blessings.

6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me

   all the days of my life,

and I will live in the house of the Lord

   forever.

I just want to talk about this beautiful image that David paints in the world renowned passage. We all know Psalms 23 or have heard it or read it somewhere. It is a very famous passage, but it was not until recently that I found myself taken by the beauty of this passage. We serve a God who does great things, and is always faithful. I think one of the things we can attribute to God is beautiful. Everything He is, everything He does, is beautiful. Beautiful beyond words. My favorite moments are the ones when I can just take in the beauty of God’s creation, take in the beauty that He is, and carry that with me. It feels so good, it’s a feeling that cannot be described.

I talk about this beauty because I think this passage has that. From the words that are beautifully written but most importantly the message. From the first verse to the sixth, the message here is awe inspiring. I’m going to do a verse by verse breakdown, because I want you to experience the beauty of this message as well.

We have everything we need because the Lord is our shepherd. Everything we could ever need is in our God. As long as we follow Him we will have it all.

God gives us rest. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a meadow or been in one but they are so beautiful and so relaxing. It’s like this large open field of grass, that just makes you want to relax when you see a picture of it. Then the scripture goes on to say that God leads us beside peaceful streams. I think this a testament of what it is like to walk with God. It’s a beautiful life. Not everyone is resting in meadows and walking beside peaceful streams. But this is where God takes His people.

Verse three talks about His strength. God renews our strength. He is constantly pouring into us. The more God pours into the more glory is brought to His name. God give us strength in every moment of our lives. Our lives will always bring glory to His name.

Walking with God means that there is no place for fear. Even when we are in our darkest moments, God is right there with us leading us through. He comforts us when we need it. He is right there protecting us, going to battle for us and destroying anything that will try to harm us. I wonder how many times God has intercepted an attack from satan. An attack that never reached us because God goes before us to clear the path.

Verse five, God does a much better job at handling our enemies than we do. God honors us in the presence of everyone who was against us. He pour so much into us that our cup overflows. God will pour out blessings, on blessings, on blessing upon His people. That’s how much He loves us, He will give us more than we ask for. Walking with God brings some pretty hefty rewards.

We will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Yes, serving God brings some hefty blessing but none can compare to eternity with Him. Nothing can compare to the Joy and peace we have in Him. It says goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life. God is in constant pursuit of our hearts. He is good, and His love is unfailing. This is the type of love that pursues. God wants us to know of His goodness and for us to experience His unfailing love. It is so beautiful how great He is.

All this to say, God is beautiful. He paints these beautiful images with His word, but going beyond that, God is just so beautiful. I mean He did create beauty. Everything He touches is beautiful, all things from God are beauty. I just want us to dwell in that beauty. Live in it. Life is beautiful because God is beautiful.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Take the time to go over Psalms 23, reread it again, and take in the beauty of this message, and the beauty of the image that is being painted with these words. Take that with you as you pray today. Have a conversation with God about what we discussed today. Take the time to praise Him and thank Him that He makes all things beautiful.

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 293!

Day 115: Bend but Don't Break

I’m from Los Angeles, California and one of my favorite things about being from LA is the Palm Trees. They are beautiful especially in the summer on a quiet street right at about sunset (Pictured to the left). Palm trees line almost all of the streets in LA, and you can find them even on the beaches, they are amazing. I’ve tried to climb them growing up, but we’re going to talk about that today. However, growing up, my mom would always tells us that palm trees bend all the way the ground but they never break.  I used to see palm trees in certain places that looked deformed because they had bent so much. Whenever we would have windy nights I would watch the trees outside my window, and they would be bending with the wind but they never fell. These trees are strong and beautiful.

Isaiah 54:17

No weapon formed against you shall prosper,And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn.This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,And their righteousness is from Me,”Says the Lord.

We are like those palm trees, God gives us strength to stand even when we are being pushed down. Even when the force of the storms or winds in our lives seem stronger than us. We are planted firm that we will not fall, and we have the strength of the Lord, so we will not break. Our spirits may be deformed but they are not broken, We have all been in places in our lives where we thought what we were going through was going to be the end. We thought there would be no coming back from this. It may be different for all of us, but one thing's for sure is that, when it rains it pours and the only way to get out of the storm is to go through it. These trees can stand through the worst of weather. The wind and water, palm trees can survive hurricanes and tsunamis, out of everything destroyed in a storm the one thing still standing is the palm tree. As the body of Christ, as Christ followers that is how we are. Out of everyone, we are the last ones standing. We cannot be moved by even the worst of weather.  

We would never know how strong we are if we never have to use our strength or how much faith we have if it is never tested. Sometimes we need to go through times when we’re bent out of shape, so that we can grow. God allows us to face struggles, He knows how much we can handle, but it is in those moments when we are fighting to stand strong, when we are learning and being pushed on all sides, that we learn to look to Christ. Sometimes we can even feel like we are being stretched past our limits, and we feel like we are going to break. We feel every part of our being ready to give up, or throw in the towel. Things get so hard, that we don’t know how to hold on anymore. But the beauty in all of it is, we do. We don’t break even though it feels like we’re going to, we don’t give up or give, we hold on, even if it takes all the strength we have. Because God made us strong enough to bend not break. Even in that weakness we find strength in Him. Like the palm tree the wind blows us from side to side, and we bend very far, but we never break. We never fall, because God is making sure that we are still standing.

It is said that palm trees fall over when the roots are weakened due to disease or improper planting. When we are not rooted properly the best of us will fall.

Matthew 13:3-6

And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. "Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. "But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

IF we are not deeply rooted in Christ it is easy to fall because there is nothing holding us down. It’s not the strength of the tree itself that keeps it standing, but the roots that hold it up and keeps it from falling. If there are no roots than it might as well be a tumbleweed heading in whatever direction the wind blows.

In 2 Corinthians 4:9, Paul says, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;”

These things come against us but we are not destroyed by it. We will go through some things in our lives, but we will not be destroyed by them. Isaiah 54:17  tells us that no weapon formed against us will prosper. It doesn’t mean that nothing will come against us, we are not invincible or untouchable. But because of who we serve because of our Father in heaven, it will not succeed in doing what it was intended to do. Our God is too great, too mighty, too magnificent.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Talk to God today about whatever is on your heart. Ask Him to make you like the palm tree that bends but doesn’t break. Allow Him to speak to you. Take this time to just talk with God, about whatever it is you need to bring to Him today. Remember that a prayer is just a conversation with God, talk to Him.

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 116!

Day 78: Faith Based Living

1 John 3:18

Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

1 John 2:6

Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

I have found in my life that living is a collection of experiences. We don’t have to talk about living because it is just something we do, we wake up every morning with steady breath and heartbeats, we walk and talk we do things that shows for itself that we are living breathing beings. We don’t have to prove that we are alive, the breath in our lungs as our chest rises and falls is proof of life.

It’s no different  with our faith and this Christ-like life we are living. When we commit ourselves and our hearts to Christ our lives begin to look like His. Our actions become similar to His, we begin to live a life that is fully devoted to Christ and stands as a testimony of His, life, death, and resurrection, because we have committed our hearts to Him. When we are fully committed and devoted to God we do not have to prove our faith. We do not have to prove our Christianity because our lives speak for themselves. It’s the way we love, the way we live, the way we treat others, the way we walk this day to day life. When we are committed to Christ it becomes less about talking and more about the walking. We don’t have to force Jesus into our lives because He is already there.

I have found from experience that the times I was forcing Jesus into my life and trying to prove my Christianity was when I really wasn’t devoted to Him at all. When I had a desire to be a Christian, but no desire to live like one. That presented a problem, I was a sunday only Christian. But Monday through Saturday I had to keep up the image of a Christian. Fooling people into believing that I was a ‘Good Christian. Making sure I talked about God at least three times a day, read a few scriptures, and bragged about my Christian lifestyle. This was because I needed my life to look good, I had to talk about it because I wasn’t living it. It was rough, at times I didn’t even feel like a Christian, I felt like I was doing everything out of obligation, going through the motions. I was being a hypocrite. Not really experiencing God because my ego, and my lack of humility got in the way. See I wanted to be a Christian but I also wanted to be the center of attention, I wasn’t ready to let go of my pride and selfish desires. I wanted to find a way to fit God into my life, not realizing that if I just gave up my pride, my selfish desires that God had my life planned already, I fit into God’s plan, not the other way around.

-Dyamond

All that to say, when we are fully committed to Christ when we make the choice to follow Him with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and seek His face first, then we are living, we will not have to prove that love. Our lives will speak for us, Matthew 7:16 states, “You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act…” We are known by our actions not our words, by the fruit we bear.

If we are not bearing good fruit, where are our roots planted? On what foundation do we stand? We must commit ourselves fully to Christ, and continue to make that choice every single day. Everyday we get up we choose to continue following Christ, we choose to dive into His word. We choose to pray and talk to Him, we choose the soil we are planted in. When we do this, and when we start to grow, the fruit from the tree will speak for itself.

Live, don’t talk about it, just live.

Reflection

1. Where are your roots planted?
2. Do you find yourself trying to prove your Christianity?

Prayer Time

Think about the questions and answers. Reflect on what we talked about today and respond to God. Give Him every part of your being. If you have not fully committed our life to Christ, I believe that right now is the perfect time to do so. We all must make this choice and no one can make it for us, so if you feel the Holy Spirit tugging on your heart, that gut feeling, whatever it may be pushing you to respond, do it. Maybe you have never been offered the gift of salvation, if that’s you and you want to make that decision, you just have to believe it in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and that He was raised from the dead. Wherever you are, you don’t have to be in a church or religious setting to give your life to Christ. There is no better time than right now.

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 79 and everyday for the rest of the year!

Day 77: Don't Judge Me by Ariana Edgar

Today we have a guess writer, my Pastor and friend Ariana Edgar (pictured below). She and her husband Matt Edgar (also pictured below) lead Story Philly a church in Center City Philadelphia and just expanded to University City. If you are ever in Philadelphia stop by on Sunday evenings at 6 and 7:30pm.

How many times have we heard people say that sentence? And to be honest, I think a lot of times people use this sentence as a cop-out to live the way they want to live instead of living up to the Godly standard set before us. BUT there is some truth that rings to this catchy phrase.

A massive lesson that God has been teaching me lately is that He is the the ultimate judge… not us.

My husband and I started a church in Center City, Philly almost two years ago. And it is absolutely my favorite thing to do! For me #SundayFunday is the highlight of my week! I love building a flourishing community of people who come together and worship Jesus. I love that our church is such a relaxed, fun and welcoming place to be. All types of people come through our doors and hopefully leave experiencing the love of God.

My role in church, and as a general Christ follower, is to lead others to Christ in every way. Whether that’s leading a team, preaching a message, or doing one-on-one discipleship, I am always pointing people to Christ.

And as I develop, grow and mature in my relationship with God I am understanding more and more that I am undeniably fallible, will mess up, and will make mistakes.

I use to think that I understood God’s ways pretty well and that I was an A+ christian. Meaning I had it all together all the time; that there was no way I could mess up that bad as "So n’ So". I would think differently of "Blahsy Blah" because they’re so proud and they have no clue how wrong they are.

But I AM HUMAN and STILL MESS UP. And the saying is SO TRUE that pride comes before a fall. Even this past month I had to eat a big fat piece of humble pie and it shocked me right back to realizing that I am always, and WILL always be in need of a Savior. And that I can’t afford to hold on to any pride in my words, mind or heart.

So here’s the thing, it says in James 4: 11-12 >>>>

"Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?”

So heeeeyyooooo!! We are not meant to think of ourselves more highly than others or go around pulling out specks in people’s eyes, especially when we have a rotting plank in our own! haha! But as a Christ followers we are supposed to pursue holiness and encourage others to do the same in their journey.

As a Christ follower & leader (p.s. if you are Christian then you are automatically a leader ) we are meant to do this >>>

1 Timothy 2:11

"I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior."

Ariana translation: Go to God in prayer for everyone that’s on your heart. Be a source of encouragement to everyone around you. And live an upright life making sure that even the little toxins in your life are handed over to God immediately.

And this >>>

Matthew 28:19-20

"Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Ariana translation: Your purpose on earth is to show people the love of Christ, have as many people as you can come to know Him, and have them walk the journey with you, pursuing perfection, until you go home to be with the Father in heaven.

Let’s be people who are constantly renewing our minds in the Word of God, who are seeing Christ as the ultimate example of how to live life on earth, and who encourage NOT judge each other to do the same. Keep yourself humble and know that God always has your back.

Guys... humble pie actually tastes sweet, so eat up!!

Much love,

Ariana

I love you all, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. MAke sure you share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 78!

Day 76: This One Thing I Ask

Psalms 27:4

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.

When I first read this scripture I was captivated by it. This scripture is so beautifully profound. As David is telling God, if there is anything you can give me, one thing, allow me to dwell in your house all the days of my life. Keep me near you Lord. That’s the one thing He wants. Out of everything he has or had, the man was a king he was rich, He could have anything He wanted. But over all that, He wants to dwell in the house of the Lord, every single day for the rest of His life.

Then He goes on to say that He wants to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. We think of God as many things, rarely do we think of Him as beautiful. And I don’t mean the physical beauty and none of us have ever seen God physically, but beauty as in essence. God is the type of person that we don’t need to see to know He’s beautiful.

It’s like speaking with a person who is blind, the eyes of a blind (wo)man are fascinating. When asked how they know that someone is beautiful, their response would be something like beauty isn’t always seen. Beauty is deeper than the skin. Beauty lies in the essence or soul of a person. Or like falling in love with a person, may times I’ve heard men say about their wives, “I didn’t have to see her to know she was beautiful”. That is how it is when thinking about the beauty of God. It is not physically it is the very nature of God, that makes Him beautiful, His essence. The spirit of God is beautiful. That we can gaze at His beauty forever and find something even more beautiful about Him everyday. We will rest in His beauty and never find that it will fade. This is what David wants to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.

To inquire means to investigate, look into, or ask of someone. David wants to learn and grow with God. All the days of His life He will be in the temple seeking answers looking into this relationship with God, the most beautiful being in all existence.

This is all He wants, out everything He could have David chooses to be up under God, to dwell in His house, gaze upon His beauty and inquire in His temple. I think David was onto something. I think David knew, He had a knowledge of what real living looked like. He knew that if He had everything and not God He had nothing at all. But He knew that with God he had everything even if that meant his earthly possessions were bare. God can give us anything we want, and anything we ask, but what would that one thing be. David wanted eternity with the one true King. He wanted to be in the presence of the Lord for all His days. That’s what real living is, Out of everything I ask for and out of everything you have given me, here is the one thing I want more than anything,that  is to be close to you. That is all I ask. Everything I need is where you are, everything I want is where you are.  I love that attitude, I love that request, and I love that this is something that David said He will seek. I will seek your presence, I will seek your comfort, and your face, I will seek your beauty so that I can gaze upon it. So I can sit in your presence all my days. This is what I want Lord. This is a beautiful scripture to meditate and dwell upon.

Reflection

1. If you could ask God for one thing what would it be?

Prayer Time

Meditate on the scripture, and talk to God. Whatever you feel led to pray about to today, talk to God about it. This is between you and Him.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Share this with someone and make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 77!

Day 70: God Knows Better

If someone were to ask me to list the many reasons why I am a christian, somewhere along that line I would say, “God knows better than me”. I find comfort in serving a God who is definite. He knows far more about this life, about this world, and even about me than I will ever know. I’m smart but I have the brain of a fruit fly compared to Him. God has given us knowledge and the ability to learn but we will never know more than Him. He is omniscient, all knowing, omnipresent, He is everywhere at one time. There isn’t a thing He does not see or know. There is no one like Him.

Revelation 22:13

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

Isaiah 46:9-10

9 I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’

God knows everything there is to know about everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything. We are talking about the man that created the universe, He created life, He created biology, chemistry, sciences. The organs in our body, every nerve, and cell was created by Him. This is the God we serve.

He knew from the moment He created us how our lives were going to turn out, That’s someone I can have faith in, He holds the future in His hands, He’s already planned it, and day by day He is leading us to the place He has for us. He’s planned out even the smallest moments in our lives. He knew the exact moment we would meet our best friends. He knows the exact moment we will meet the person we will spend the rest of our lives with. He knows when that phone call we’ve been waiting for will come through. He knows everything.

God knows what’s going to happen, even when we don’t. He sees the bigger picture because He painted it. We just have to trust in His sight, and His vision so that even when we don’t know what to do even when our plans hit a wall we can know that whatever God has planned is better than anything we could have dreamed up ourselves. We must accept the fact the no matter how smart we are, what we know does not compare to the knowledge of God.  Overtime as we look back over our lives we will see that God’s hand was in it all along. We will understand that He had to take us some places we weren't planning on going to get us to where we are. But overall God always knew where we would end up, because He is God. His ways are better than ours, His thoughts are greater than ours. His plans outshine ours.

Isaiah 55:8-9

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Just know that as long as we trust God, as long as we are in His will, we are part of a grand picture that was completed before we were even born.

Reflection/ Prayer Time

Take the time to think about how amazing it is that God knows better than us. To think about how great He is, and how He already knows what will happen in our lives. Let it sink in that we are part of God’s bigger picture. Just talk to Him about it all. However you feel led to pray today, do it.