Day 316: This Beautiful Romance

Ephesian 5:25-27

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

Isaiah 62:5

For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

Marriage is like the realest of all levels of relationships. When you get to the point of marrying someone, everything is different, you have a made a conscious decision that you want to be with this one person for the rest of your life. That’s a big choice, so when you get to that point you must be sure. It’s the second best and most important decision you will ever make in your life. When you get to the point of wanting to and eventually marrying someone, you made it. You did it, you’ve reached the diamond package of relationships. It’s real, you’ve survived the ups and downs, you’ve gone through the awkward moments, saying “I love you” has become normal. You no longer try to figure out who will say it first, but instead try to figure out who can say it more. No more trying to impress them, they know you and you know them. They can see straight through you and you for them. You made it. You have to be completely and truly in love with someone to commit yourself to them for the rest of your life. To want to wake up next to the same person, do life with one person, spend the rest of your days with one person. It’s serious, when you get to the point of marriage there is no turning back, hopefully. You know all about this person, you know their deepest and darkest secrets, you know them inside and out, their pet peeves, their cute quirks, you know what buttons to press and which ones not to press. Most importantly you love this person and more than that you are in love with this person and you choose them everyday. You get happy when you’re around them. You cannot stay mad at them no matter how hard you try.  You see something in them that no one else sees. This is the person that you do not want to live without. What if I told you God felt the exact same way about us? He calls the church His bride. What if I told you that this life with Christ is less than a casual relationship and more like a marriage? We are in it for the long-haul. However there isn’t a ‘til death do us part’ in this marriage, it’s eternal.

Our relationship with God is the realest and best one we can ever have, It is the most beautiful relationship anyone can have, God loves us so much, and I can never stress this enough. He is committed to being with us, He is committed to His people. God doesn’t want a casual relationship with us, He wants a marriage, He wants us to be with Him for all eternity. Our relationship with God, just like a marriage is a two way street. Both parties must put in in order for it to work. This raises the question, are we committed to God the way He is committed to us? Are we willing to spend our life and all eternity with our Heavenly father. God is in, it’s like a groom waiting at the altar for His bride. Are we going to walk to Him? How many times have we stood God up at the altar? How many times have we walked away from the best thing that could ever happen to us? There is no reason to be afraid to have a relationship with God. We hesitate sometimes because we are afraid of this commitment. That’s not just for our relationships here on earth but we sometimes allow that fear to creep into our relationship with God. Let me tell you that nothing can beat being in a relationship with God. We tend to walk away from things that are good for us, sometimes out of fear that we will ruin it. We cannot ruin something that God has planned from the beginning, we can run but we do not have the power to ruin it. Why run away from this beautiful romance though?

When we talk about this beautiful romance, what I mean is that God goes above and beyond for His people. He wakes us up every morning, He gives us everything we need before we can even ask. He is constantly fighting our battles so that we do not have to. He makes sure that we are always protected. He is with us in every moment from the best to the worst moments of our lives. God gives us more joy and peace than anything or anyone in the world. He gives us truth and helps us to grow every day of our lives. God is constantly pouring into us and making us better. It’s hard not to fall in love with someone like that. Someone who has been and will always be inlove with us. It’s hard to walk away from that, it’s hard not to want to serve the one who gave us everything for us. The one who moved heaven and earth to find us and have a relationship with us.

All this to say, falling in love with God is the best thing that can ever happen to us. We must not look at our relationship with God as something casual but more like something special. A relationship that tops all relationships. There is nothing like it at all. This is the one relationship we need in order to have other successful relationships. It’s more beautiful than anything we can ever imagine. If Jesus proposed, how would you respond?

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led. Thank God for this beautiful romance, If you have never had a chance to enter into a relationship with God and that’s something you want, now is the time to make that decision. If you feel it pulling on your heart, respond today.

f 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 or evening! If you made the decision to follow Christ today, do not hesitate to reach out and get plugged into a church. I love you and make sure you come back tomorrow for day 317!

Day 276: Good to Everyone!

1 Thessalonians 5:15

See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.

Paul is urging us to do good to people, not just certain people, but all people. Sometimes we pick and choose who deserves our kindness and who doesn’t. But Jesus was good to all, and if we are living our lives like Him then we must do the same.

He starts this scripture by saying pay no one back evil for evil. Meaning no playing tit for tat. Do not be out here seeking to get revenge on the people that have done you wrong or hurt you. One it’s not what Jesus would do and second, it’s not as satisfying as one would think. I know many of us knows what it’s like to want to get back at someone, to make them feel how they made you feel. Or even if we don’t get them back ourselves, we want someone to do it. Sometimes we even find ourselves praying for that revenge, like asking God to get the people that got us. I know it sucks when people hurt us, or when they do us wrong in whatever way possible, but honestly the best “revenge” you can get on someone is to love them. Kill them with kindness, do good to them. They’ll never see it coming. See people expect revenge, we sometimes expect people to get back at us for the things we’ve done, it would make us feel a whole lot better, but what makes us feel even better is grace. When people decide to love us, and do good to us instead. So when we decide to forgive and treat people well it helps them too. I know we’ve been told forgiveness is about us not the other person, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes people cannot move on until they know they are forgiven. So be good to even the people that have hurt you repay evil with good. That’s what Jesus did and by doing so He saved the entire world.  

Always try to do good to each other, and to all people. Now we must love our neighbors, love everyone. Try our best to be good to everyone so that we will not hurt someone or offend them. When Paul said everyone, he meant everyone! The people we disagree with, the ones we don’t vibe with, the ones who are pretty much jerks all the time, the ones who seem lower than us (if you view yourself as above anyone we need to have a talk). Do good to all people not just the ones you like or get along with. I mean with all the evil and craziness going on in the world we can use a little good and love.

All this to say, honor people. Treat others how you want to be treated not how they treat you, There is something so freeing and beautiful about not seeking revenge but loving people through the pain and doing good in evil situations.

Reflections

1. Have you ever been hurt by someone and wanted to get revenge on them?
2. If you did, did it really satisfy you or stop the pain?
3. HAve you ever prayed for karma to hit someone?
4. What has been the outcome when you decide to love through the pain and do good in an evil or bad situation?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. HAve a conversation with God about forgiveness and revenge, and pray for the state of our world!

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 277!

Day 162: YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

Psalms 139:13-14

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

Something we don’t hear enough is, “you’re beautiful” or “You’re handsome”. I think as the church we tend to neglect the idea of self-esteem when it comes to beauty. We tend to beat around the bush when it comes to caring about our physical appearance. We as Christian are very focused on what’s on the inside, we don’t really focus on physical appearance. It’s more about what our heart looks like. While that is great and I do not want to discredit that in any way, I believe that it is important for people to be complimented. I feel that it is important for us as Christians to have confidence. I believe that we should be able to see ourselves as beautiful and not be accused of arrogance or cockiness.

God formed the innermost parts of us but He also formed the outermost parts of us. We were created by the greatest artist there is, was, and will be. We are the greatest work of His hands, made in His image. If that’s not beautiful I don’t know what is. I talk about this because I truly believe that we are beautiful people and we must believe that. It’s something that many people especially people in our generation suffer with. You’re beautiful, don’t let anyone tell you it’s just on the inside.

One of my favorite movies and musicals is The Color Purple. It’s a beautiful story, and a piece of the plot is a woman finding her own beauty and learning to own that. There is a point in the story where she can’t even look in the mirror for more than two seconds. She doesn’t see herself as beautiful because she has been told over and over that she was ugly. She has been beaten down all her life and eventually, she starts to believe it. I tell this story because there are too many people especially within the body of Christ, as I stated above, walking around with low self-esteem. There are too many people out there who don’t believe that they are beautiful. I’m talking about the men too, especially men, they get overlooked too often. We all need to hear it at one point or another. It’s one thing to think but ti believes it is different. I grew up being bullied really bad, I was called ugly every day for years and I heard that word so much that I eventually started to believe it. This is why hearing it is important.

I feel like a lot of people are opposed to Christians being attractive, especially if they’re pastors. Like, people are really shocked when they see a pastor who is attractive. It’s interesting like it’s almost a sin in the world for a Christ follower to be hot. Our beauty isn’t just on the inside, we are human just like the next person, and there is nothing wrong with being told you’re beautiful, feeling beautiful, or wanting to be told you’re beautiful.

Back to the story of the color purple. In the musical at one point the actress playing the lead sings a song, and in the middle of that songs she looks out into the audience and says, “I’m beautiful”, not once but twice. The actress Cynthia Erivo who plays the role talks about this moment in the play. She discusses how we need to hear this statement more often and how we do not hear it enough. I believe that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and we have to believe that to be true in every part of our lives.

All this to say, have confidence, know that you are beautiful. Start to see yourself as more than just a beautiful person on the inside but know that God has made you and there you are the most beautiful thing ever. You’re beautiful on the inside but you’re also beautiful on the outside. Believe that.

Reflection

Take the time today to look in the mirror and say, I’m “beautiful” or ‘I’m handsome”, gorgeous, pretty, stunning, cute, whatever word you choose. Then compliment someone, make someone feel good about themselves today and every day following.

Prayer Time

Take the time to pray that God boosts the confidence of His people. Have a conversation with Him about what we talked about today.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 163!

Day 158: Work While You Wait

Psalms 130:5-6

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, in His word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

Acts 12:5

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made by the church.

I recently watched a sermon by Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr. and as he began to talk about waiting on God, he said something very real and very profound. He said, “Waiting on God, for a lot of Christians is code for doing nothing.” I could not agree with this statement more. Sometimes we get to thinking that God will do things for us that we can do ourselves. We tend to get lazy because we’re ‘waiting on God to do something in our lives”, A lot of times we don’t even know what we’re waiting on God for, the pastor told us to wait so that’s what we’re going to do. example, we want money and need money but instead of going out and filling out applications for jobs we sit in the house waiting on God to provide a job. We sit around waiting for God to send someone to give us some money. If we want God to move for us, we have to be willing to take the first step. We have to be willing to do the things we can do for ourselves and then leave the rest up to Him.  

I knew a pastor that had the entire church convinced that if they sat at their mailbox all day and waited on the mailman a check would show up. People were literally waiting by their mailboxes all day. He had people convinced that waiting on God meant waiting in the house for a check. That waiting on God meant doing nothing, and  God will show up. He even had the congregation convinced that if we wanted a job all we had to do was pray and God will send it to us. That all you had to do was pray and have faith and that was it. In my experience that is not how God works. Even the Bible says “faith without works is dead.” (James 2:17) While I do believe that God is a miracle worker, I also believe that God will not do for us what we can do for ourselves. He’s not going to magically put an application in for us at a job. If we want a job we go and apply and then we wait on God. God will come through for us, but in the meantime, we have to do something. Doing nothing and waiting on God are two completely different things.

In Acts 12 Peter in thrown into prison, and while he is in there the people on the outside are not only waiting for him to come out but they are earnestly praying. They did not sit around crying and talking to each other about Peter being in prison, or wishing that he was home. They wasted no time in praying to God for Him. They were waiting on Peter but in the meantime, they were praying for him. We have to work while we wait, we have to worship, we have to pray, we have to continue life while we are waiting on God. While we’re waiting on God, we can keep serving, we can pray for others, there’s a lot we can do while we wait.

By no means am I telling you to jump the gun and move before God tells you to. What I’m saying is don’t use waiting on God as an excuse to be lazy. We have to take a few steps for ourselves, we have to do things for ourselves. We have to step out on faith, take a step and God will show us the path and lead us on this journey. God has equipped us with the tools and abilities to do things for ourselves. God completes the things that we cannot finish, He does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He does the heavy lifting. Wait on God but work while you wait, don’t use it as an excuse to do nothing.

Reflection

1. How do you wait on God?
2. What is your definition of waiting on God?
3. Do you use waiting on God as an excuse to do nothing?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Talk to God about what it means to wait on Him and what to do in the meantime.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing Day or Evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 159!

Day 139: Representing the Cross

2 Corinthians 5:20

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

ambassador-an authorized messenger or representative.

I want to pay attention to the first part of this scripture, as it tells us who we are in Christ, and as Christians. When we look at our lives and the lifestyle we lead, do we represent Christ? Does our lifestyle, our choices, our actions, do we represent Christ?

I ask this question because the scripture above tells us that we are ambassadors of Christ, and an ambassador serves as a representative.

As Christians, we are meant to live a life that points towards Christ. We are to live our lives as Jesus lived His. Representing what He did on that cross, carrying ourselves with holiness living righteously. He went through so much to ensure that we could live a life of freedom and abundance, to ensure our salvation. We must use the gift of freedom He has given us to represent Him and the cross.  

We cannot be representatives of Christ if we are still living in sin,. We cannot rep Christ and sin and the same time, it is one or the other. When we give our lives to Christ, when we make that decision to follow Him, we must be fully devoted to Him. We must live our lives to honor and glorify Him. We also must live our lives like Christ to be an example to our brothers and sisters who might not know what it means to live like Christ.

Those of us who have given our lives to Christ and made the decision to follow Him knows what it means to follow Christ. We must dive into His word, that is where we will get all the answers we are looking for. The bible shows us how to live through Christ, and Paul, and the disciples, and so many men and women in the bible who lived their lives fully devoted to God. The scripture also tells us how to not to live. It shows us the consequences of a life that is not fully devoted to Christ.

Reflection

Today’s message is short but I will end with the big question proposed today. Ask yourself, “Does my life represent Christ?”

Prayer Time

Allow your answer to the above question lead you in prayer today. Talk to God about your discoveries and have a conversation with Him.

If you are reading this today and you realize that you have made the choice to follow Christ but your life doesn’t quite look like Him, or you’re not representing Christ with your actions and lifestyle; today is the day to choose to fully devote your life to Christ. If you’ve never made the decision before, today is the day to make that decision to follow Christ if you feel the Holy Spirit tugging on your heart today, respond.

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 is 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 and every day for the rest of the year!

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!