Day 257: Occupy Your Street

*It's late I know, I'm sorry. I promise I'm going to get back to a set schedule. I've been running around like a made person between show, school, and work. So please bare with me.*

1 Corinthians 7:20-24

Yes, each of you should remain as you were when God called you. 21 Are you a slave? Don’t let that worry you—but if you get a chance to be free, take it. 22 And remember, if you were a slave when the Lord called you, you are now free in the Lord. And if you were free when the Lord called you, you are now a slave of Christ.23 God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world. Each of you, dear brothers and sisters, should remain as you were when God first called you.

Colossians 3:23

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters

When we give our lives to Christ our lives change for the better. We become better people all around. We start to love differently, see the world differently. It’s a really beautiful thing. With that comes this burning desire to want to share Jesus with everyone. Wanting to go all over the place telling people about this magnificent man, who changed our lives, and that He can do the same for someone else. That’s beautiful, it’s great, but sometimes we too quick to move out of the position God has us in in order to be in a place that seems more Godly to us. Meaning we often feel like we must make drastic changes to our life as opposed to our lifestyle. What I mean by that is we often give ourselves an ultimatum when it comes to our faith or coming to our faith for the first time. We tell ourselves, “It’s either God or this, God or that.” Or we often try to separate our life as a Christian from our personal life, those two things are not and should not be separate. We never think about the fact that God has us where we are for a reason, that He saved us where we are for a reason. That there are some people where we are that need guidance. But we cannot give it to them if we are too busy looking for a more Godly place to spend our time, or share the Good News of Christ.

I remember deciding to give up acting when I was sixteen because I had just become a Christian. Although it was something that needed to happen, I felt like the only reason I did it at the time was because the career I had chosen was not Christian enough. So I begrudgingly walked away and I was miserable for most of the five years that I tried to suppress the very thing that God has gifted me to do. Something that I know I was made for. My journey back to acting was longer than it needed to be, because even when  I knew the time was right I kept suppressing it because I felt like it wasn’t good enough. It would take away from who I was as a Christian. You ever been in place where you try to tell God what is Godly and what isn’t? I’m not going to do that because I have to help feed these kids in Africa that’s more Godly. I think you will approve of that more.

I have found that occupying my street and being where I am is the best thing possible. For example I am still an actress, but acting means so much more to me now than it did before because I have given my life to Christ. So everytime I walk on to that set, step on that stage, or give a performance of any kind I am giving it my all. I am doing it as if God Himself is sitting in the audience, and through that I can glorify Him. So wherever you are, whatever you are doing, do it all to the glory of God. Give everything, put your heart and soul into it. When I here that statement, “do it for the glory of God” I was always under the impression that it meant, do it in a church. Do it for a church event, make sure I’m only speaking ‘Christianese”. Wherever you are, whatever you do, glorify God, from right where you are. That’s what it means to occupy your street. You don’t always have to travel halfway across the world to do the Lord’s work, you can do it right here.

Mission isn’t just about traveling to another country to build houses. That’s one form of missionary work but what about where you are? What about the street you are on that has kids who need guidance, people who are starving in your area? God has us where we are for a reason, don’t be so quick to run away to “do the Lord’s work” when there is work to be done right where you are.

All this to say, occupy your street. You know what that is, you know what God has called you to do. Do it. That’s all.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Take the time to reflect on what we talked about today. Respond in whatever way you feel led, and let that lead you into your prayer.

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 258!

Day 47: Smoke and Mirrors

Things are never as they seem to be, and that can be good or bad, depending on the situation and how we look at it. . We as young adults are constantly finding out what is real and what is not. We are constantly trying to sort through what is real, and what seems to be real. We are at a point in our life, where we are starting to realize, “my parents were right”. But more importantly we are growing in Christ and gaining discernment so we can see through the smoke and mirrors and see the truth. Many people use the term Smoke and mirrors as a bad thing, but I’m going to bend that definition a bit and say that things are not always as they seem.

Matthew 7:15

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

2 Corinthians 4:18

So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

There are a couple of points to make today. We will start with the obvious. Many of us have grown up hearing the scripture, beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing. Meaning don’t be fooled by people pretending to be something they are not. In the scripture Jesus is speaking these words, He is telling the people to beware of the false prophets, they look good and they sound good but that doesn’t always mean it’s good for us. Growing up my mom would always tell us, “Everything that glitters ain’t gold.” Just because something looks good doesn’t mean it is. Looks can be deceiving as we all know. Jesus goes on to tell the people that we will recognize them by their fruits. A healthy tree does not produce bad fruit, and an unhealthy tree cannot produce good fruit. Sometimes we are in the presence of a bad tree but are so caught up in it’s beauty that we don’t realize the toxic fruit it's bearing. We must pay attention to the things and people around us, the people we look up to and the people we let in our lives. People are great at talking but when the actions and words of a person collide, we have a problem.

I am not saying that everyone we meet is out to get us, we just have to wise to see through the deception. God gives us vision to see beyond the foolishness. We look past the moving lips, and the distractions to see the truth. God also gave us parents with wisdom, as hard as it may be, most of the time they are right in these situations.

I know for a fact my mom was right about fake friends. I didn’t listen and had to come back and apologize. Because mom was right all along. I realized that God didn’t give me parents just so they could tell me what to do, they are wiser than me, and I had to learn to listen to the words they were speaking to me, even when they were hard to swallow.

-Dyamond

The hard thing about this is that sometimes we get attached to the things that we know are no good for us. The most common things are relationships, when our hearts and feelings are invested, it’s hard to let go. I’m pretty sure many of us know this from experience, I know I do. We can know that the person we are with is only their to drain us, and not to do good by us; they look good, they feel good, they make us feel good, what they say is good, but there’s something off and we try to act like we don’t know what it is. We don’t even have to look that deep to know they are sheep dressed in wolves clothing, it’s right in front of our face. Everything pleasurable isn’t ethical.

God gives us vision sometimes we just choose not to see. Smoke and mirrors look good to us, we’d rather not know the truth because it’s too deep, it will hurt too bad. We have to look pass our own pain sometimes to see the bigger picture. It hurts right now but I promise it’s better now than later, and it won’t last forever, I can promise you that. It will work together for our good, because God has our back. Which brings me to my next point. In life, everything isn’t what it seems.

Romans 8:28 says, And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Sometimes we look at all the things going on in our life and cannot understand how it can ever get any  better. But their is a bigger picture, a large mural actually. God sees that bigger picture, He painted it. Right now we only see a small portion of it, and we can’t quite make out what it is yet. But the more we grow, the more we lean into God, and trust that there is more to what the physical eye can see that image will start to grow. Eventually we will see the big picture and we will understand that we had to go through some valleys, and some dark places to get to where we are. Nothing is as it seems. It may look like we are being punished, it may look like nothing is getting better, but trust me God is behind it all. He’s directing us, and strengthening us, we are growing with Him. So when He does that big reveal we will understand that He was there the whole way, we will discover a path or a pattern. We had to go through that rough time to get to where we are, we had to reach that stumbling block, to know that God won’t let us fall. We had to reach that dead end to know that God can make a way out of no way. It’s all working out, it’s all coming together, we just have to trust Him. We must know that even though it’s not as it seems, or life isn’t going the way it should go, it’s going the way God planned. It will work out, it will be okay.

Reflection

1. Is there anyone wolves in your life dressed in sheep's clothing?
2. Based on your previous answer, are you willing to let them go?
3. Is there something or someone in your life that you know is not good for you, but you are choosing to overlook because you are too attached, or letting them or it go will hurt too bad? These are the things or people that you probably did not mention in question one. Think about it before you answer, once you have that answer, refer to question two.
4. Repeat these four words, “God really loves me.”
   
   

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. If there are people in your life or things in your life holding you back give it to God. Talk to Him about the things you want to hide from Him or shy away from today. Talk to Him about the bigger picture and what that is, allow God into your heart, listen for what He is saying to you. Be honest with God, remember that prayer is just a conversation with God. Some conversations are harder than others and this might be one of those, but have it anyway. He’s listening not judging, just talk to Him, listen for a response, and obey His words.

I hope you have an amazing day or evening, rest in His presence today. I love you so much. Make sure you come back tomorrow for day 48! And share this with a friend!

Day 46: When I Lost My Heart To You

When I became a Christian, and we would get on the subject of marriage or relationships I would hear someone say, “You have to be so lost in God that your husband has to find God to find you.” I didn’t understand the depth of that statement, because I did not know what it meant to be lost in God.

Proverbs 23:26

O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways.

God wants us to have a good life, He wants us to enjoy the life He has given us. He wants our hearts to be  in the best possible condition. He knows that the heart is safe in His hands and there is no better place for our hearts than in the hands of God. When we lose our hearts to Him, our lives start to change and line up with His word. We begin to see things in a new light, we start to act differently, love differently. Because God has gotten a hold of our hearts and it’s beginning to look like HIs. We begin to enjoy living this life with Him, and enjoying our walk with Christ.Our desires shift from selfish ambitions to the will of God. Our hearts begin to change because they are in the hands of love.

Matthew 10:39

If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

We must lose our lives to Christ in order to find them. Seeing that Christ holds our life in His hands we must give up the life we think is worth living in exchange for an eternal life that we know is worth living. There is something very profound about the scripture above. I remember hearing it for the first time and thinking that I had to go out and literally give up my life. I thought I had to die. I was sitting in church like, “wait, I have to die to be a Christian? This is not what I signed up for.” It’s very confusing if taken out of context or not understood completely. But in a way we do die, not physically, of course, but we do give up our life. We die to our flesh, the life of sin we once lived is gone. The sinner in us dies, and we are a new creation. We give up our corrupt and sinful life in exchange for a pure and Christ filled life that will take us to and through all eternity. We trade temporarily fix for  satisfaction and fulfillment in Christ. We  are complete when we live with God, when we find ourselves live in Him because, we cannot truly live outside of God, God is the giver of life, it is His breath running through our body, He is the air we breathe. We depend on HIm for every breath we take, whether we realize it or not. How can we live apart from the person who gave us life? This breath is the connection, the blood that runs through our veins is the connection.

This earthly life is temporary, one day we will all be reunited with Christ, and be in His presence for all eternity. That’s the endgame, We were never meant to stay here on Earth forever. We will occupy it while we are here, but it’s all provisional. But we tend to hold on the things that fade away instead of what is here to stay.

When we find ourselves wrapped up and lost in God, we are nearly untouchable. We are so in line with His word, and who He is that nothing can move us. The hands of God are powerful, there’s no better place to be. We must give up our hearts and our life in exchange for something something greater. God can do things we never imagined, but we must surrender ourselves to Him. We must allow Him to possess our hearts knowing that it is in sacred hands.

Reflection

1. What will it take to lose our hearts to God? What will you have to give up to live a life created by God?
2. What is the one thing holding you back from giving your life to Christ?
3. How can that change?
   
   

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions lead and guide you prayer. Talk to God about what it means to be lost in HIm. Just talk to god about whatever is on your heart today.  If you are willing and ready surrender you life to HIm. Maybe you feel the Holy Spirit tugging on you, don’t ignore it. Answer the call.

Have an awesome day or evening! I love you, and make sure you share this with someone. Come back tomorrow for Day 47! Enjoy this song