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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day 328: It Makes No Sense

1 John 1:5-7
“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”
How many times have we devoted our lives to Christ or rededicated our lives to Him and went back into our same old ways? How many times have we decided that we are going to “live right” but couldn’t seem to let go of the very thing keeping us from living right? We all want a shot to get things right and we all know that Jesus is the way but unless we are willing to set our lives down and pick up our crosses and walk with Him how are we going to get that chance to get it right. What I’m saying is that we are often verbally committed to walking in the line while actively committed to the darkness. We have things that we are holding on to that will not allow us to walk completely in the light with Jesus Christ. This is what John means when He says spiritual darkness there is something holding us back from God, something only we can point out. Why is it so hard to give it up? Sometimes we are in the dark so long that it begins to alter our vision. We begin to adjust to living in darkness. If you’re in a dark room, in the beginning everything is pitch black and you can’t see anything, but after a while your eyes will start to adjust to The point where you cannot see clearly but you can see figures, you know if something or someone has moved. We spend our whole lives in darkness and the moment the light hits it will either frighten us or excite us.
Jesus came as a light to a world that was living in darkness He literally came to change the world, to bring people out of darkness and into the light. As we know darkness is the absence of light, meaning that where there is no light, Jesus is not there. To walk with Christ all the days of our lives is to walk in the light or live right.
All this to say, if we are going to walk with Christ we must do it full out and wholeheartedly. It makes no sense for us to claim that we walk in light when we are still living in darkness. We must let go of anything keeping us in the dark and know that God is taking us on a beautiful journey and we cannot get to where we are going in we cannot see, spiritually and physically.
Response/ Prayer Time
Today was very short and sweet but take the time to reread the passage and talk to God about what we discussed today. Search your heart, open your heart to God and allow His light to push out any darkness in your life.
I love you so much and I hope you have an amazing Day or Evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 329!

Day 319: So Will I

Psalms 150:6

Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!Praise the Lord!

Psalms 69:34

Praise him, O heaven and earth,

the seas and all that move in them.

Todays devo is inspired by a beautiful song by Hillsong United called ‘So Will I’ and before I go into detail I want you to read the lyrics of this song that are so beautifully crafted.

And as You speak

A hundred billion galaxies are born

In the vapor of Your breath the planets form

If the stars were made to worship so will I

I can see Your heart in everything You’ve made

Every burning star

A signal fire of grace

If creation sings Your praises so will I

...I can see Your heart in everything You say

Every painted sky

A canvas of Your grace

If creation still obeys You so will I

If the stars were made to worship so will I

If the mountains bow in reverence so will I

If the oceans roar Your greatness so will I

For if everything exists to lift You high so will I

If the wind goes where You send it so will I

If the rocks cry out in silence so will I

If the sum of all our praises still falls shy

Then we’ll sing again a hundred billion times

And as You speak

A hundred billion failures disappear

Where You lost Your life so I could find it here

If You left the grave behind You so will I

I can see Your heart in everything You’ve done

Every part designed in a work of art called love

If You gladly chose surrender so will I

I can see Your heart

Eight billion different ways

Every precious one

A child You died to save

If You gave Your life to love them so will I.

I know it’s a lot but there is so much depth to these words. There is the idea that whatever Christ does I will also do. But also, if creation sings your praises, if these inanimate objects sing your praises, so will I. How much more can I sing your praises than a rock? I love that the song says that we can see the heart of God in everything He says, everything He made, everything He done, and finally we can see His heart a billion different ways. How amazing is that? Everything reveals a bit more about who God is, it tells us a little more about His love for creation and humanity.

Everything is a testament of who God. All creation reveals His presence, creation reveals who God is.

Psalms 19:1-4

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.

The most compelling thing about this scripture is that it says that the heavens proclaim the glory of God, the skies are a display of His craftsmanship. All creation proclaims the glory of God. The sun, the moon, the stars they all declare the glory of God day in and day out. They do it without ever saying a word or making a sound. The sun rises and sets everyday without fail, doing what God has created it to do. The moon rises as the sunsets, to give light to the night sky, as well as the stars, doing what it was created to do. That is how they bring glory to God. Creation is constantly in tune with it’s creator, God. Creation is constantly obeying God, by doing exactly what it was created to do. Everything in creation is constantly glorifying. So if creation glorifies and praises God without making a sound how much more can we do with our voices. How much more can we do with our hearts, and with our minds. This song is a declaration to God, saying if creation praises you, so will I. If creation can obey you, so will I.

The song goes on to say, “If you left the grave behind you, so will I...If you gladly chose surrender so will I.”

These are such bold statements, because it’s something that we as christians talk about this all the time. This is what Jesus did and we can do it too. In this song it changes from what we can do and what we will do, we make a choice to turn away from a life that will lead us to an eternal grave and we choose to follow Christ. We choose to surrender our lives to Him We make the decision that following God is definitely for us. If this life is good enough for you, a king, it’s good enough for me.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led. Let that response guide your prayer today. Have a conversation with God, allow Him to lead you.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 320!

Day 264: Our Way

Genesis 15:2-5

But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.” Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

Genesis 16:1-5

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.) So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!”

Genesis 18:10-15

Then one of them said, “I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!” Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent. Abraham and Sarah were both very old by this time, and Sarah was long past the age of having children. So she laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?” Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was afraid, so she denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh.” But the Lord said, “No, you did laugh.”

Genesis 21:1-5

The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. And Abraham named their son Isaac. Eight days after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.

For some reason we sometimes think we know more than God. For whatever reason we think we know more than the all knowing, living God. We somehow think that we are smarter and that we know what’s best. You ever decide to do God’s job for Him because He’s not moving fast enough or He’s not doing what you want Him to do? I know I have, I can only speak for myself, but sometimes I can get impatient with God. Sometimes I decide that my way, my plan, and my ideas are better than His. I end up looking like an idiot in the end.

I feel like someone who can relate to this is Sarah, or Sarai, she was still Sarai when these passages started (God likes to change names). However in this familiar story, Abram is told by God that he would be the father of many nations. Abram was past childbearing age and so was Sarai, so his concern was, I don’t have a child who will be my heir? God then promised him that he will have an heir, and numerous descendants, countless descendants.

Stop right here, you ever worry about something and God is like, ‘don’t trip I got it handled’? That’s basically what God is doing here, He’s like Abram, you don't have any kids now, but you will have a plethora of descendants and they will outnumber the stars in the sky. God never told him when that heir would come, but He told him that it will. We may not know when God is going to do something but we must have faith that ‘s He’s doing it.

Moving on to the next passage when sarai decides that she’s tired of waiting on God to give her a child. In other words she takes matters into her own hands. Sarai is getting old, way past child bearing age, So she’s like Abram, sleep with my maid Hagar, so you can have a child, and we can have a child through her. Let’s stop right there. In her eyes Sarai was doing what was right, she was doing the only thing she thought possible. A common mistake we make when we exclude God from the equation. She didn’t want Abram to go on without an heir so she decided to find a way to give it to him. Most likely in her eyes she was being a good wife. Abram agreed with her, despite what God had already told Abram, he agreed with his wife, instead of standing on God’s word. It’s not stated how long it’s been since Abram received the promise from God, but I get the sense that he is tired of waiting. I think we all know what it’s like to be in both Abram and Sarai’s position. We try to do what right not realizing that it’s not what God wants. It doesn’t come from a place of malice or anything like that, we just want things to go right, but we do it our way, not God’s way and it never works out. We see that in the passage when Hagar begins to act towards Sarai with contempt because she is having and has had Abram’s child, Ishmael. His first child might I add. God is not a God of confusion.

When waiting on God, and looking at a situation that seems impossible we begin to doubt the power of God. Sarah, (her name has changed) hears that she will be pregnant within a year. This is a message from God sent through a visitor. When Sarah hears this she laughs, and she’s basically doubting what God is saying. Like, ‘yeah sure an old worn out woman and an old man are going to have a child. Yeah God, sure, you’re funny.’  But God proposes the question if there is anything too hard for Him. I’ve been in positions where I have felt like not even God could help this mess. Everytime He has proven me wrong. But when we think about it, no there is nothing too hard for God, nothing. He makes the impossible possible. We’re talking about the same man that created the entire universe.

Then God does exactly what He said He was going to do. He said Abraham and Sarah would have a child and his name will be Isaac. Isaac could only come from Sarah and Abraham, so no matter how many maids Sarah got to sleep with Abraham none of them would have been Isaac.

All this to say, we have a way that we think is right and there is a way that is even better than ours. God has a plan for all of us and it may take time to come to fruition but when it does, all the waiting will be worth it. We do not know more than God. It’s easy to take matters into our own hands because we think we know what we’re doing, but when we compare our knowledge to God’s we literally have no idea what He has in store for us. Trust God’s way, it’s so much better and easier in the long run.

Reflection

1. Have you ever had a moment when you decided that God is taking too long so you decide to take matters into your own hands?
2. Have you ever felt like something was too hard for God?
3. Have you ever tried to do God’s job for Him?
4. What have you found about trying to do things your way versus god’s way?

Prayer Time  

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about what we discussed today and have a conversation with Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 265!

Day 245: One With the Lord (The Power of Prayer!)

1 Corinthians 6:17

But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

Today I want to talk about being one with the Lord, what I mean by that is, having a relationship with Him. When our spirits are in tune with God we are joined to Him as one spirit. As when two people get married they become one, well there’s another marriage we must have that comes before every other relationship in our lives and that’s our relationship with God. I can never stress how important it is to have a personal relationship with God. To get it for ourselves, not depending on the prayer of others to get by. As I talked about earlier this year, we are the generation living on the prayers of our mothers and grandmothers; but no matter how much or hard they pray, they cannot have a relationship with God for us. That’s a decision we make on our own. Once we make that decision we are joined to Him for all eternity, there should be no going back. I love talking about having a personal relationship with God because it is so important, but we also get to break down what that means and what it looks like.

It’s more than just standing up in church one day and making the decision, while that is very important it is only the beginning. The moment we make the decision to dedicate our lives to Christ is the moment we decide to be joined to Him for all eternity.  Our spirits become one with the Lord as our lives begin to change to emulate the word of God. Our lives are moulded by His word. We will get to a point where everything we do we do to the glory of God. There is also a point in our relationship with God when we know we are in tune with God. I can’t tell you when it is or what it feels like, but you will know when it happens. Being joined to the Lord we just know, we start to move through the Holy spirit allowing it to guide us through life. When we are joined to God, life seems to be easier, things seem to worry us less. We start to see the world through the filter of God’s eyes. Our lives start to look a bit different, as we continue to grow in Him, we will find deeper revelations of who He is and the more clarity in the word of God. We will start to understand things differently and live every day of our lives by trusting God. We start to live by faith knowing that God always has a plan, it becomes easier to jump when we have faith in God. Knowing that even when we feel like we’re falling He is right there to catch us. Knowing that we are never alone, that God is always there.

We get this to this point by continuously choosing to be in a relationship with Him. I’ve said it so many time, but this lifestyle we’re living is a choice, and that’s what makes is so rewarding. It’s something we want, we choose to put our faith in God. We choose to have a relationship with Him. We are not forced into this, we cannot be forced into it. It has to be our own decision.

All this to say, we are joined to God first through Jesus Christ, when we give our lives to Christ we are automatically connected with our father in heaven. But we also make the choice to trust in His word and dive into a marriage with Him. We are joined to God through His word, reading and gaining knowledge and understanding of His word. One last, but the most important thing, prayer. Direct communication with God, we cannot have a relationship with God without prayer. One of the main ways we communicate with God is through prayer. We cannot have a relationship without communication. I cannot stress how important prayer is in our relationship with God. I think sometimes it is often looked over, but it is imperative that we pray without ceasing. Prayer brings change, God hears the prayers of His people. HE heard the cries of the Israelites countless times and continuously delivered them. He heard the prayer of King Hezekiah and added fifteen years to his life. Prayer works! That is something that is constant throughout the entire bible, everyone prayed. There is no one in the bible who had a relationship with God without prayer. Prayer is key to being joined with God.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led. But take the time to really pray, pray about whatever is on your heart. Ask God to help you with your prayer life, just take the time to talk to God and have a conversations with Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 246!

Day 228: All Summed Up

Romans 13:8-10

Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.  For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

This scripture had me shook when I read it, it 👏had 👏me 👏shooketh👏. The shookness came from the revelation in this scripture that can answer a theological question that has been burning in me and many others for  a very  long time. Romans has the answers to many questions. But before we get there let’s break these scriptures down a bit.

The scripture starts off by telling us that we owe nothing to anyone. The only thing we owe to anyone is love. The only thing we are obligated to do as people and followers of Christ is love one another. We’re not obligated to please people, or bend over backwards trying to make someone happy, no all we have to do is love them. The crazy thing about that is, this is the most simple, yet profound and complex command ever, but it’s so beautiful when you think about it and put it into perspective As humans we love naturally, whether we want to admit it or not we all want to be loved and we all want to love. It’s who we are, and it’s astounding the measures love can go. However, sometimes we make love complicated by adding conditions to it, and using it to get what we want. We often find ourselves hearing or saying, “If you really love me, you will…”. But love is not manipulative. Or we “mistake” love for something else, like empty words, or lustful eyes, and sex. Love is not that either. This scripture is so profound because even when we decide to give up on love or stop trying, someone is still out there obeying the command of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ to love us. If we don’t deserve anything else, we deserve love. When we uncomplicate things we will realize that love is a basic part of living. It makes for a much happier life as well, life is just more enjoyable and fruitful when you choose love… Moving on…

The next part of the scripture is the part that had me shooketh. It says, as you can read above but I have to repeat it for emphasis, “If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.” Crazy right?! Now before I move on, one of the many questions that many Christians have is, if Jesus came to die for us, then why do we still live by the ten commandments which are in the old testament? It’s always been this kind of debate, or seeking an answer of if the New Testament is the way in which we supposed to live as opposed to the old testament, because you know Jesus, He’s the way, the truth, and the life. The question lingers, do we still have to live by the laws of the old testament? The answer to that question is summed up in the next part of this scripture. Where is says…

“ For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.”

Meaning every command is summed up in the two commands Jesus gave us,

Matthew 22”37-40

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

By obeying these two commands we obey all ten commandments. We do not ignore the law in the name of Jesus instead we honor it by following His path. What I mean is that Jesus gave us these two great commands to love God and love people. Now if we love God, ourselves, and others these commandments are fulfilled. Simply because love is the foundation of it all. We don’t hurt the people we love, we won’t steal from them, kill them, covet what have, sow discord, because love won’t allow us to do it. It’s almost as if love obeys the commands for us. When we love God we won’t put anything before Him or use His name in vain. Love won’t allow it.

We’ve been to this scripture so many times to talk about love, but this time I actually recognized and understood verse 40, The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments. This has been the goal from the beginning. Love has always been the foundation of it all. We know that from reading Deuteronomy 6:5,  “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength”.

All this to say, Love has been and will always be the foundation of who we are. If we love God, ourselves, and others, in that order than we are fulfilling the commands of our Father in heaven.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Take the time to share and discuss what we talked about today. Go back over the scriptures and even read the full passages. Pray and ask God for clarity and revelation of His word.

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 229!

👏👏

Day 223: Unpacking Romans 12- Going After God

Romans 12: 11-12

Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.

One of the things I’ve learned within my almost twenty five years of living is, need gives up drive, want puts passion behind that drive. When we want something, when we really want something with all of our heart nothing is going to stop us from getting it. No one can stop us from getting to it. Like a dream, when we find what it is we are meant to do and we fall in love with it, we will go to the ends of the earth and back to make it happen. It always raises the question, “how bad do you want it?’. The work we put into it will show if we really want it or not. We go after our dreams because it is what we love. We pursue people we are interested in, because we want them in our lives. What if we treated God the same way. We are all aware that we are in desperate need of God, but something changes when we decide that we want Him. When we want God in our lives we will work overtime to serve Him. We will do all that we can to show our gratitude and thanksgiving. We get to a point in our lives where serving God is no longer an obligation but a choice. We no longer do it because we have to, we do it because we want to. As we grow in Christ, we must learn to go after Him. We must learn to follow Him. When we are serving God because it is something we want to do, as choice that we have made, we serve Him happily and diligently. Serving Christ is not a burden, it’s an opportunity to live for something and someone much greater than ourselves.

Jeremiah 29:13 reads, You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

All this to say, go after what you want. Learn that there is a difference between needing God and wanting Him. When we need God, we come to Him from time to time. We pray when we really want Him to do something for us. When we realize that we need Him every second of every moment, we will get to a point of not wanting to live without Him. We will get to a point when we want Him more than anything, even our next breath. When we want God, we want to walk with Him everyday of our lives. We want His presence with us wherever we go. When we want God we seek His direction and we do whatever we can to stay in His will. Go after God with all your heart because in Him lies everything we can ever need and want.

Response/Prayer Time

Respond in whatever way you feel led. Talk to God about wanting Him more than anything and seeking His face. Have a conversation with Him.  

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening, be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 224!

Day 195: I Choose Him

Psalms 119:30

I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me.

Recently I watched a sermon by Judah Smith, where He talked about choosing God. He talked about choosing God’s way even when it doesn’t make sense or we don’t understand what is happening or what is going on. We know that God has a way that is greater than ours, so we choose His.

Sometimes making that decision is hard, it’s hard because we can get to points in our lives when we feel like we’re stuck or we don’t know what’s going to happen, all we know is that we want God to move. We have to have enough strength and faith to trust in whatever move God makes. Whatever He decides to do is okay with us. Even if we don’t understand it, even when we don’t know why. We have so many struggles in our lives, we have ups and downs and sometimes life feels like an extreme roller coaster. There’s points of frustration, anger, anxiety, and seeking clarity. I’m sure we all have a story of where we’ve been in our lives and how God has brought us to where we are. We have stories of nearly giving up or wanting to just walk away from everything. Getting tired because we don’t want to keep fighting, we don’t want to keep crying, we don’t want to keep struggling.  But at the end of the day it all boils down to choosing Christ. Wanting to live in unity with Him no matter the struggles that come with that. At the end of the day it’s about Him, it’s about finding hope and looking towards Him, because that’s where it all leads to. When alls said and done and we’re spending eternity with Christ it’ll all be worth it. When we receive that blessing we’ve been waiting on and praying about; all the fighting, all of the crying, the tears, and heartache. It will all be worth it, because no matter what was going on in our lives we decided to choose Him and we kept choosing Him.

All this to say, life is rough man, it’s hard. Not every moment is hard but when it rains it pours. But no matter what, keep choosing Christ, even when it’s hard and it doesn’t make sense choose Him. It will all be worth it and it will all work out in the end.

Reflection

1. Are you going through anything right now where you feel like you can’t take it?
2. Choose Him, make the choice not to be defeated but to find even a glimpse of hope in Him. Everything is going to be alright. It’ll all workout.

Prayer Time

Take the time today to talk to God about what you’re going through, Have an honest conversation with Him and hold nothing back. Find peace and hope in Him.

I love you, and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 196!

Day 181: Don't Trade Your Integrity

Integrity -  adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

And integrity according to oxford dictionary means

-The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.

Proverbs 11:3

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

As you’ve probably concluded by now, to day we are talking about integrity. So let’s start this off with a question;

Is whatever you want worth trading your integrity for?

Now I will answer that question. No. No it’s not, it is definitely not worth it. You know it, I know it, everybody knows it. Nothing should be worth throwing away your morals and beliefs, we have to stand for something. We have to hold on to something. The scripture says, the integrity of the upright guides them, now if we give that up we will not have any guidance. We all have a set of beliefs whether we are Christian or not, we all have something we believe in that we are not willing to give up. We are not willing to sacrifice or put on the line for anything or anyone. For many of us reading this devotional, that thing is our relationship with God. For me it is exactly that, there are many things I’m willing compromise on, one of those things is not my relationship with God, it’s not my morals. I live by my own morals and it makes me who I am, they influence the choices I make and where I go in my life. I am not willing to give that up or sacrifice it for anything. As an actor this is a subject that comes up for me a lot, whether I’m talking to my friends about it or checking myself on it. I love acting with every part of me, there’s is nothing else I see myself doing, I’ve been acting my whole life. However there are things more important to me than acting. As much as I love what I do, I love God more, I love my family more. I believe that’s what makes me a better actor is that, yes this is very high on my list of priorities, but it’s great to know that something in my life is higher. There will always be a reason as to why I act. I refuse to trade my integrity for acting, because I stand for something bigger and that allows me to be a better artist.

One of the shows I recently binge-watched is, ‘Jane the Virgin’, a show centered around a young woman, Jane (the amazing Gina Rodriguez), who has made a vow not to have sex until she is married. Many of us in the church have taken this vow and knows what it’s like. However, there are times throughout the show when she decides she’s just gonna do it, and every time something comes in the way of it, even on her wedding night. But when she has sex for the first she is married, and later on she talks about how happy she is that she waited until she was married.

Now I’m not here to talk about sex, and waiting for marriage. I wanted to use that as an example that holding on to your integrity and your beliefs is so worth it in the end. There is nothing more rewarding than standing for what you believe in. I know we all want so much out of our lives, and we all want to get to “that place”. Whatever that “that place” is for you, you know what I’m talking about, it’s different for everyone. What I’m saying is, getting to the top doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice or trade in your integrity, just to get there a bit quicker. We can do that to get to where we are going quick but as fast as we go up we’ll come down even quicker. There is something beautiful about holding on to your beliefs, even if it means it takes a bit longer, and it’s a little harder. But you know that once you get there, wherever ‘there’ is, once you’re there, you’ll know that you didn’t have to trade anything or compromise at any point. God works in mysterious ways and He shows favor to His people. Hold on to that, you’d be surprised at what He does in your life. He is looking for people who will remain committed to Him, even when fighting temptation feels like pulling a ton of bricks. Hold on to your faith, hold on to your morals, hold on to your integrity because it will be so rewarding in the long run.

This can be with anything, of course our relationship with God comes first, but after that whatever personal morals or vows you’ve made to yourself. Don’t trade them in. Stick it out, it’ll be so worth the wait.

Reflection

1. What are some of the beliefs and morals you hold dear?
2. Are you willing to sacrifice them?
3. Based on your answer to the above question, why or why not?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about holding on to your integrity and standing firm on your beliefs. Have a conversation Him.

I love you so much and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 182!