Day 197: Remain Faithful

2 Chronicles 7:14

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

I believe that God is giving us a formula here, He’s telling us how to get His attention, in a way. He gives a few simple instructions here and He expects these things from us.

Many times, we as Christians look at our relationship with God as a one way street, or look at God as our butler. He’s here to do things for me and that’s it. But my friend that is not true. This relationship is a give and take, if we want God to listen to us, and we want Him to answer our prayers we have to do some things and change some habits that show we are committed to God. We can’t be the type of people that live our lives any type of way and when we need something we’re devoted Christians for all of ten minutes. That’s not how it works. The scripture tells us to humble ourselves, pray, and seek His face, and then… Then I will do what you ask of me. It’s like God is saying, you want me to answer your prayers, you want me to act on your behalf, be sincere, be faithful, seek my face. You want me, look for me. Sometimes we have to give to get, there is a few things God has given us freely and unconditionally, love and grace being two of them. But there’s some things we have to give to God and give up if we want to have a relationship with Him and if we want to experience His faithfulness, First off if we want God to be faithful, we have to be faithful as well. We have to be faithful in both the good times, hard times and bad times.

When we are doing everything we are supposed to do, living our lives devoted to Christ, and following the path He has laid out, everything will work out. We will have a direct line to God, without anything getting in the way of the connection. When we are faithful to God we see how faithful He is to us. God will give us everything we desire, but we have to live for Him. We cannot live any way we want to and think that God is still going to reward us because He is full of grace. Yes He is full of love, grace, and mercy, that is true and He will always be there with open arms ready to forgive us. But there is a level of sincerity that we must have. God knows a sincere heart, and I believe that God will honor that. He’s there, He’s right there saying I’m ready, I want to forgive you, I want to heal you, I want to answer your prayer and give you everything you need and desire, but first you have to let go of the things stopping you from getting to me. First we have to come to Him with a humble and repentant heart, we have to seek Him and He will be there. He will answer and honor our prayers.

All this to say, remain faithful to God. Don’t treat Him like a butler or try to be fake. He can spot an insincere person. God is faithful to us so let’s be faithful to Him.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond today in whatever way you feel led. Talk to God about being faithful and living for Him. Have an honest conversation with Him. If you feel convicted repent, do whatever you need to do.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 198!

Day 183: Not Today

Psalms 118:24

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

You ever have one of those specific days where you wake up and you can feel it in your bones. You wake up smiling and singing, and you just know, so you say to yourself, “Today is going to be a great day.” You don’t really know what’s going to happen today but you know that today is going to be great. I love those, because it’s one of those days where you aren’t going to let anything bother you, the things that would usually make you mad or upset don’t have any effect today. You’re walking around like Spider-Man when he finally decided to let loose and put the black costume on (I am in no way telling you to go to the dark side). You get up and dress nice, put an extra little pep in your step because you feel good about today. You just feel motivated to do something. Even when something does try to get in your way you curve it by saying, “Not today Satan, not today.”

These are some of my favorite days because while a huge miracle might not happen these days are always marked in my calendar because something good happens, whether it be spiritual, emotional, physical, whatever it may be. Have you ever noticed that these are the days you are tried the most, I mean the most, when all you want to do is have a good day it like all the forces for ruining your day come at you like the paparazzi comes after Justin Bieber. But the thing about it is, there is so much joy in the Lord that nothing can stop you, nothing can get to you because you’re already covered. You just smile for the cameras and keep it moving. So in the words of Hillsong United, “Tell the devil, no not today.”

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. One day I finally understood this scripture. It is a scripture that I would hear my mom say in church every time she got the chance to speak. Every day is great day because the Lord has given it to us, so even on our worst days we can find comfort in knowing that God decided to wake us up this morning, so let’s enjoy it as much as possible.

Wouldn’t it be great if we woke up everyday with the attitude that today is going to be a great day? If we were motivated and feeling good about ourselves every day of our lives. I truly believe that every day can be great, if we choose for it to be. We won’t wake up everyday saying that today will be a great day, some days we have to make that choice. We have to choose to have a good day even when everything is going wrong. We have to choose not to be bothered and let things roll off our shoulders. God made it, it’s a great day, rejoice and be glad in it.

Response/Prayer Time

 

Take the time to respond to what we talked about today, pray and talk to God, then go and have a great day!

I love you, have an amazing day, really enjoy your day. Share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 184!

Day 178: The Bright Side

1 Timothy 6:6-7

But Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it.

Philippians 4:12-13

For I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this in Him who gives me strength.

The past six years of my life have been anything but a breeze, from losing my father, to struggling financially and not knowing where I was going to lay my head at night, to having people walk out of my life and getting my heart broken into pieces. Fighting every battle to get into college and having to leave that same college due to financial issues. Then getting into another school and fighting with every loan place and financial aid to stay in school and graduate. These past six years have been some of the hardest years of my life. It’s hard not to fall into a pity party and feel bad for myself. Because I’ve been at points where i literally felt like I couldn’t get any lower. I’ve been in a place where my family and I were so broke we couldn’t afford a twenty-five cent roll of tissue. I feel Paul on a personal level when he says he knows what it’s like to have plenty and be in need. But I have learned to look to God in both my darkest and highest moments.  I learned to find my strength in Him to get through all of the Christ that life has handed to me on a platter. God has taught me to be content even when I don’t have money, or the things that I desire or wish to have. I chose to thank God for what I do have and where I am in my life. I’ve chosen to thank God for bringing me further than where I was. I’ve learned to look on the bright side of things and not let my joy be stolen by my circumstances.

I think as humans it’s hard to see the good in a bad situation, it’s hard to look on the bright side when everything in front of us is so dark. It’s hard not to feel bad for ourselves, but it feels so much better to get get up and thank God for giving us another day. To thank God for the little things, to thank Him even for the battles, because it’s those moment that mould us and shape us into the person we are. Diamonds are made when a crazy amount of pressure is applied to coal. If we continue to look on the brighter side one day we will get up and the darkness will no longer hover over us, one day the clouds will clear up, the rain will stop. But in the meantime while it’s raining, learn to dance in it, while it’s cloudy enjoy your shadow. Because these are also moments we will never get back, choose to live. Even if that means we aren’t okay, or we’re sad, one day we’ll wake up and it’ll all be fine.

Another reason I have learned to be content is that I have realized that all this is temporary and that there is something out there much bigger than me. Yes I want so much more out of my life and I will get so much more out of my life, but if I am not content with where I am and what I have right now, I don’t think that’s going to change when I get everything I’ve always wanted. I can’t take anything with me when I leave this earth, I can’t take the money, the clothes, the luxuries, the degree, none of it. I can leave a legacy behind, but that’s it. This does not mean that we give up on our dreams or on anything we want out of life. It means we change our perspective, we learn to live for God first. I chose to devote my life to God because that is where eternity lies, and in Him I will have everything I ever needed and wanted, and I’m not just speaking about spiritual things. I mean everything. But first I had to learn to be content with where I am, even when my situation is less than wonderful.

Reflection

1. What do you want out of life?
2. Are you able to look on the bright side even when there’s darkness in front of you?
3. Are you content with where you are?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about being content with where you are but also looking forward to where you are going.

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 179!

Day 175: One Heart, One Soul, One Love- Day 4

Proverbs 31:8-9

Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Isaiah 1:17

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.

Psalms 82: 3

Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

The whole idea of being selfless is being willing to put someone else’s needs above your own, or putting someone else above yourself. It is the opposite of being selfish, meaning our main focus is other people, and we are not worried about what we will get out of something or how it will benefit us. We are looking to benefit someone else and be totally fine with walking away empty handed. I think one of the biggest problems with the world and why there seems to be so much discord and violence and injustice, is that we are so concerned with ourselves. The world is a selfish place, and we live in it, but can we dare to be selfless in a place that is so consumed by self? I know our generation gets told a lot that we are selfish, but let’s combat that and show them what it means to be selfless. I truly believe that our generation is very selfless as we stand up for what we believe in, but also speak up so that others who are oppressed or being beat down are given a voice. We fight against injustice, and oppression and give a voice to the mute. I believe that as people of God we are called to speak up and stand up for His people, not just for ourselves. When our brother and sister is hurt or falling we are there to help them and pick them up.

I bring this up because with so much going on in the world we have no time to be selfish. With people hurting and oppressed, people facing injustice everyday, people being killed for the lifestyle they lead and the choices they make, we have no time to be selfish. If anything we have to be the ones to stand up and say  this isn’t right, to come to the defense of our brothers and sisters. We know what’s right and we know what’s wrong, let’s not sit back and let our world fall into a path of unrighteousness. People deserve to live freely, people deserve basic human rights, people deserve a place of refuge. I know some of us are going to say, “It’s not my responsibility”. If it’s not our responsibility then whose is it. The same way Jesus took on the responsibility of saving humanity, and the disciples took on the responsibility of spreading the word of God, the same way the church took on the responsibility of selling all their possessions to take care of one another, we have a similar responsibility to stand up and stand in the gap for God’s people. We are equipped with the Holy Spirit and the word of God. We have a duty to right the wrongs and correct the injustices. If Jesus, The disciple/apostles, paul, and all the many men and women of God in the bible had not stepped up to the plate and taken responsibility then we wouldn’t be here today. So yes, it is our responsibility to help our brothers and sisters in need to stand up for those being oppressed by the justice system, those being denied access to freedom and health, and those being denied basic human rights. It is not our job to evaluate whether or not they are worthy of our help, because Jesus did not do that to us. If He evaluated how worthy we were before coming down from heaven to save us, we would not be saved. We are not here to judge or decide who deserves a helping hand, no we give a helping hand with heart full of love and leave the judgements to God.

Reflection

1. Do you believe your responsible to stand up and be there for those who are suffering and oppressed?

Prayer Time

Allow your answer to the above question guide part of your prayer. Talk to God about what it means to be selfless and ask Him to teach you and help you lead a selfless lifestyle. Pray for the people of our nation, pray for those without a voice who have been silenced, pray for those who are oppressed. Pray for the things that have become normalized that continues to plague humanity.

One of the biggest thing I want to pray for today is, rape culture, and the treatment of sexual assault towards both men and women. It is something that has been normalized that continues to plague the world. The attitude towards these issues are too casual and it is a very serious and sensitive situation. People’s lives are ruined and forever scarred due to rape and sexual assault and many times the government and it’s citizens brush it off. I can’t stress enough how important this is, that we talk about it. Pray that the whole idea of rape culture ceases and pray for those who have been affected by it.

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 176!  

Day 68: Pure Joy

Joy

-(Biblical definition) Joy isn’t like happiness which is based upon happenings or whether things are going well or not. No, joy remains even amidst the suffering. Joy is not happiness. Joy is an emotion that’s acquired by the anticipation, acquisition or even the expectation of something great or wonderful. It could be described as exhilaration, delight, sheer gladness, and can result from a great success or a very beautiful or wonderful experience like a wedding or graduation but the definition of joy that the world holds is not nearly as amazing as biblical joy but joy is also gift.

-(Dictionary.com definition) the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation.

Psalms 4:7

You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.

This is one of my favorite scriptures, because it highlights God as the source of joy, which He is. He gives us more joy than our favorite things in the world. We can have everything we ever wanted but there is nothing like the joy of God in our hearts. No matter what we have we can only get that pure permanent joy from Christ. They can give me everything, but it will never add up to what I get from God, what I have from serving Him. There is nothing better, it does not get any better than this.

Third thing to know: God is better than the world’s best thing. (Yes that is from a Chance The Rapper song)  

Joy is not like happiness we can’t fake it, we either have it or we don’t. Joy comes from within, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and know just how loved we are by god. When the holy Spirit dwells in us, that is when we know what it is to be filled with the joy of the Lord. We know that there are no worries, nothing can take away the joy that God has given us. It’s like an unbreakable smile, a happiness that cannot be tainted. We can have joy even in our pain and trials, as we are told in James 1:2, Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

Nehemiah 8:10

...And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

When have the joy of the Lord we can find strength to keep pushing through the trials because we are fully aware of the word of God, and fully aware of His presence in our lives.. We find great delight in Him even when we are facing the hardest battles in our lives. Because we know that He is sovereign, we know of His promise, we know that no matter what, we can look to Him and know that everything will be okay. We can find strength in Him when we are weak. Even in our darkest hour, if we still have faith, if we still trust in the Lord our joy cannot be tainted.

Reflection/ Prayer Time

Take the time to reflect on the passages maybe reread some of them. Talk to God about what it means to have the Joy of the Lord in our hearts. Rest in the presence of God, and know that His joy is your strength. Whatever is on your heart give it to God. Know that no matter how great something is, God is greater.