Day 350: Recap!

Day 344: Don't Lose Hope

Today we talked about holding on to hope. We talked about holding on to hope in a world that seems hopeless, and knowing that as long as we have Christ, it's not over! We focused on 2 Chronicles 15:7 and Isaiah 41:10.

"There’s so much going on in the world that will make us lose hope in many things, but don’t let what you see or what you’re going through at the present moment make you lose hope in the Father."

Day 345: Step Out of the Boat

Today had to be one my favorite days so far, we talked about how Peter just had the courage to step out of the boat. We talked about taking the first step and having enough faith just like Peter to step out of the boat. We talked about what it takes to get to our 'waking on water' moment. We focused on Matthew 14:28-29. 

"Too many of us are missing our “walking on water” moments because we are afraid to step out of the boat. We’re too focused on the fact that we might sink so in order to protect ourselves we stay in the boat where it’s safe."

Day 346: Live For Something That Matters

Today we talked about living for something bigger and better than ourselves. We talked about how we can sometimes be selfish with our gifts and our prayers but we talked about turning those prayers outward and expanding His kingdom. We focused on Mark 8:35.

"We pray for change but it never crosses our mind that God sent us to where we are because we are the change that we have been praying for."

Day 347: Fight For It

Today we talked about fighting for what we want and fighting for the things that we know are worth fighting for. We talked about how Jacob fought with angel for his blessing, even with a dislocated hip. We talked about how we should not let the pain stop us, but if it's worth it, we have to keep fighting and see the blessing that comes from it. We focused on Genesis 32:22-29.

"We have to hold on to the things we think are worth fighting for, even if it means we have to deal with the pain of holding on."

Day 348: What's Your Passion

Today we talked about our passions we talked about finding that one thing that we are so passionate about and the thing we know we are meant to do and be. We talked about how we often have this idea that being a Christian means we stop being who we are, meaning we have to give up the things we love and our personalities and even sometimes our culture. We focused on Philippians 1:6, Psalms 32:8, and Proverbs 16:3.

"God Himself can be telling us to take the path that leads us to our dreams but we are sometimes too concerned with thinking that because we aren’t doing it the religious way or because we aren’t doing it in a church we are sinning. God can use you wherever  and whenever."

Day 349: What Will You Do

Today we talked about what we will do and say in the face of adversity. We talked about how we will use our platforms, our voices, our lives to speak up when it comes to things like injustice, equality, peace, truth, etc. We talked about how all of these things starts with us, these changes that we want to see and implement starts with us. We cannot wait for someone else, we have to do it, whatever "it" may be. We focused on John 3:16, Matthew 5:14-16, Galatians 6:2, and Matthew 25:35-40.

"We often think that these are not our battles or our conversations. By overlooking the things that are causing the world so much pain how are we helping to heal. By looking over our brother or sister who is starving and struggling how are we doing God’s will?"

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to go back over your favorite post this week and share it with someone. Come back tomorrow for Day 351!

Day 242: Faith is For Everyone

Galatians 3:26-29

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.  There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

Let me first start off by saying that, no one, and I mean no one is excluded from God’s love. No one. Now that we’ve discussed that, let’s dive in a bit and talk about how faith is for everyone.

When we think about the Old Testament and the Law and how the Jews were God’s chosen people, you would think that anyone who wasn’t Jewish was excluded from the faith. You would think that God loved Jewish people more than anyone else, because they were His specially chosen people. When we think about it, God used a people to be set apart from the rest of the world and say, these are my people and this is how they will live. I believe it was to show that God’s people were set apart for the word. Actually the Hebrew word for “holy” means, to be set apart. So when God called the Jews to be holy He was calling them to be set apart from the rest of the world. Meaning obeying the law, and commandments, Obeying every detail in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, no matter how boring and repetitive it is reading them. Jewish people were living lives so completely different from the rest of the world that it made them stand out. It made them different from anyone else, because they were following commands directly from god. God has chosen a people to carry His word, to live out His commands and lead generations of people to Him. Anyone who was not living the way God had instructed the Jewish people to love were not considered people of God. They were Gentiles (non-Jewish people).

Now that we’re done with the little history lesson let’s take it back to the New Testament, when Jesus arrives. Jesus, a Jewish man Himself, comes to save all humanity, Seeing that He was Jewish He was obligated to obey the commands and the law, which He did, He did not come to destroy it but fulfill it. Jesus came to offer everyone a relationship with God, not just the Jewish people. Because of Jesus you no longer had to go through a priest to be forgiven of your sins. We had a direct connection with God.

Jesus came and united all people for one purpose, to serve god. He came and said, you weren’t born Jewish but you deserve salvation too, it doesn’t matter if your Greek, God loves you too. Oh, you’re a sinner, come to me, I can fix that. Jesus came and changed the game completely when He came looking at people’s hearts, and seeking their souls, instead of trying to figure out their bloodline, (plot twist: He already knows). It didn’t matter if they were Jewish, Gentile, slaves, sinners. None of that mattered anymore because god wanted His people, not just the chosen people of Israel. No, He wanted all of us, every single one of us. Which brings me to my main and perhaps only point I want to make today, faith is for everyone.

No one is excluded from Jesus, No one is denied access to God. We are all one in Christ Jesus, He loves us all the same. When Jesus came He did not show favor to the Jews, in fact He was harder on them. He came to let everyone know that it doesn’t matter who you are, there is room at the cross for you.

I want to you know that. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’ve been, Jesus wants you. I think a lot of times, for many different reason we feel like God doesn’t want us. We feel like we aren’t good enough or we’ve done too much. We feel unworthy of His love and grace. I want to let you know today that God loves you so much. He wants to have a relationship with you so bad that He sent His only son to die so that you could have a direct connection with Him. I know sometimes we feel unworthy when we think about how good God is, but He’s so good that He’s finds us worthy of His grace when we know we don’t deserve it.

All this to say, there is room for you in the house of the Lord. There is a specific spot waiting for you actually. We are all His children, no one is excluded  from that. We all have a seat at this table, even when we decide to give it up. It’s always open because Jesus is constantly interceding for us, and pulling us back. We always have  seat waiting waiting for us at our Heavenly Father’s table. This message will never get old or tired. No matter who you are, where you’ve been, or where you are at the moment, God loves you. He is waiting for you, standing there with open arms, He will not judge you, but He will shower you with gifts and grace. One day, it will be too late. None of us know what that day is, but let’s not try to wait and find out. Turn to Him today, make that decision.

Response /Prayer Time

Respond today however you feel led. Talk to God about what we discussed today, and have an honest conversation with Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and discuss it with someone. Come back tomorrow for Day 243!