Day 244: Not Everything is Everlasting

Ecclesiastes 3:1

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.

Revelation 3:7

Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open:

I know many of us have heard these two scriptures a multitude of times, and I want to talk about them today. I want to talk about the fact that not everything in our lives are meant to last. Not everything is forever or everlasting, no matter how much we want it to be. Sometimes God closes doors in our lives to open others. Sometimes people walk out of our lives or relationships fade because they were only meant to be there for a season. We must learn to realize and honor these moments. I feel as humans we hold on so tight to things that we won’t even let our hands open to God. Sometimes we hold onto things so tight, not wanting to let go while at the same time not realizing, trusting or understanding that God has something greater in store. Sometimes He needs our hands to be empty in order to fill them completely. Sometimes as humans we are so hesitant to let go of a good thing because we don’t know when it’s going come around again. We are afraid because we are not trusting that God has something greater. We are not trusting in Him, His timing or His word. God always has something greater for us, we just have to trust Him. We have to trust His process.

With that being said, sometimes God closes doors, and no matter how hard we try we cannot open them. This does not mean God is punishing us, all it means is, either it’s not the right time or there’s a better door. Everything God does, He does for a reason, He’s not going to leave us empty handed or stranded. He always has a plan. I feel like many times we decide something isn’t for us before we give it a chance because we are so focused on our own plans. I know we all think that we know what’s best for ourselves but trust me when I say God knows much more, we’re not even scratching the surface. So we must trust Him with every area of our lives. Even our relationships.

Now this is a big one, relationships. I don’t just mean romantic relationships, I mean every type of relationship. There’s couple of quotes I’d like to reference here,

“Some people aren’t meant to be in our lives forever. Some are just passing through to teach us a lesson.”

-Unknown

“Some people come into your life as blessing, others come in your life as lessons”

-Unknown

The main point I’m trying to make here, is that even people have seasons in our lives. Some people are only meant to be in our lives for a season. We go wrong when we try to make seasonal people permanent. Meaning we could very well be holding on the very thing that God Himself is trying to break apart. Sometimes we are so caught up in our feeling that we try to force everlasting on temporary. This will only end in heartbreak. Trust me I know from experience, however God even uses the heartbreak to shape and mould us into the person He has always destined for us to be. So somehow someway God will keep us in His will.   Having people in our lives for just a season is not always a bad thing, what it means is that where we are going some people cannot go and where others are going we cannot go. It’s not just about us either, we have to be willing to let people go not just for our sake but for theirs. We know when someone’s season is up, we just feel it, so let’s not force it to continue knowing it’s over. We have to realize that sometimes we are only meant to be in a person’s life for a season, and be okay with that. This is not to say that nothing is everlasting, it is, just not everything.

All this to say, not everything is meant to last forever and that is okay. It’s life. We must learn how to let go when it’s time to let go. As well as trust God with where our lives are going and where He is taking us. We must keep a loose grip on our plans and understand that God’s plans are always greater than ours. Trust Him with everything you are and all you aspire to be.

Reflection

1. How hard is it to let go for you?
2. Have you had (or currently have) people in your life that you know was only meant to be there for a season?
3. Do you trust God’s timing?
4. Do you trust God with your life?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about the seasons and seasonal people in your life. Have an honest conversation about what it looks like to completely trust 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 245!

Day 82: Burdened with Sin

Psalms 31:10

...my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.

Psalms 32: 5

I acknowledged my sin to you and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

We all know that we are born into sin, we live in a broken world. We are not perfect therefore we have a need for a savior, Jesus Christ, and that savior is the only one to save us from our sin. Today let’s talk about sin, not sin in general but our personal sin. David says that it is his iniquities that make him weak, iniquity is another word for sin.  David knows that his own sin is what causes his spiritual weakness, as sinners we cannot fix this alone, we become our own stumbling block when we keep allowing ourselves to choose to sin knowing that it is detrimental to our spiritual health.  

In the next chapter David says that he acknowledges his sin and he will confess it to the Lord. He’s not going to try and hide it, but he is going to take his iniquities before the Lord knowing that forgiveness is in Him, salvation, and redemption is in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To acknowledge something means, to admit to be real or true; recognize the existence, truth, or fact of. Knowing and acknowledging something are two different things, we can know something but that doesn’t mean we will acknowledge it as truth. We know we are sinful, we know our sin is causing us to go down a terrible path, this is facts, it’s what we know, but will we admit it? Are we willing to go before God as we are and say, “I’m a sinful mess.” sometimes it’s as simple as that. Can we find the courage to confess our sins to the only one who can forgive them. Sometimes it’s as easy as saying, God help me. God won’t judge us, but he will forgive us. There is this beautiful thing called grace and God is full of it.

We cannot allow our souls to rot in a sinful hole because we are too shameful or too embarrassed to go to God, or we’re too full of pride. We all sin, believe it or not. After David gets done confessing to the Lord he says, “...And you forgave me.” We’ve talked about carrying burdens of many things, but too many of us are carrying the burden of sin, we are carrying the burden of death and it’s making us weaker and weaker everyday. We have to take especially these burdens to the Lord, because it will literally save our lives. Sin does not belong to us either, just because we were born into sin and into a broken world does not mean we have to bear the burden of it. It does not mean that we have to carry our sin around with us, Jesus died for humanity, he came for that sin. Stop carrying it around drop it and leave it at the foot of the cross. When you drop it, don’t pick it back up. Often times we go back and pick up our sin. No, we have to leave it there, we have to let it go down to the grave with Jesus and stay there. It does not belong to us. Drop it and leave it!

When God offers forgiveness and salvation in exchange for your sin, take it! Accept His forgiveness, there is no shame or condemnation in the Lord.

Reflection

1. Are you burdened by sin?
2. Are you willing to acknowledge that sin and confess it to the Lord?
3. What is on your heart that you need to confess to the Lord?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about whatever is on your heart. Confess your sins to Him, allow him to purify your hearts and accept his forgiveness. Pour your heart out to the Lord, lay all your burdens at his feet, and know that you are forgiven.

Maybe you never had the chance to submit your life to Christ or you want to rededicate your life to Him. I believe that now is the time to do that. Take all that sin and confess it to the Lord, whatever it is, surrender it to Him. Know that He can take it, and you will find freedom in His house. He loves us so much that He wants us to be bear and with Him for all eternity. Forever in His holy temple.

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.

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. Get plugged in to your local church, and bible study. If you have any further questions feel free to contact me, Thedyamondjbackup@gmail.com IAmDyamondJ on all social media networks.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 83 and everyday for the rest of the year!

Day 79: Let's Recap!

It's been a great week, not only did we reach 75 devos, CRAZY!, but we also had a guess writer. Here's a little recap of what went down this week.

Day 72:In the Meantime
We  started the week off talking about patience, waiting on God and what to do while waiting. We focused on Psalms 27:14, 46:10. The two points we made today were: 1. In the meantime, don't jump the gun, and 2. In the meantime, slowdown and enjoy life.
"Don’t miss out on what’s right in front of you because we are too busy to see the blessing before our eyes. Life isn’t always about getting somewhere, it’s about the experiences, and lessons on the way".

Day 73: Where Do We God From Here

Today we talked about jumping, taking a leap of faith. We focused on a few scriptures today: Matthew 7:7, 14:28-31, James 2: 17-18, and Philippians 4:13.

"Sometimes when we feel stuck it means that we have to take a leap of faith to get to where God wants us to go. When we reach the end of a chapter in our lives and don’t know where to go that is where we look to  God for direction, and if He tells us to jump, we have to. If we don’t we will stay in a place where we will be stuck forever. The only way out is to leap, we can’t step we have to jump. Everything we’re looking for, everything we need will be on the other side, leap and watch God allow you to soar. You can do it, put that fear aside, get a running start and JUMP! "

Day 74: Removing What is Dead

Today we talked about dropping the dead weight that is holding us back from reaching our full potential, or keeping us from growing in Christ. We focused on John 15:2.

"Once the dead branches are removed, God continues to prune the healthy branches. Meaning he makes sure that everything dead is cut away, making room for more growth. If we want to grow, if we want the fruit we bear to be good, we have to let go of the dead branches, we have to remove everything from us that is dead. That is the only way we will grow, and be able to make that leap of faith. "

Day 75: This One Thing I Ask

Today we talked about David's desire to be near the Lord all the days of His life. We focused on Psalms 27:4.

"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. "

Day 76: Don't Judge Me

Today we had a guest writer, Mrs. Ariana Edgar, she talked about not judging others, and having a nice slice of humble pie. She focused on: James 4:11-12, 1 Timothy 2:11, and Matthew 28:19-20.

" We are not meant to think of ourselves more highly than others or go around pulling out specks in people’s eyes, especially when we have a rotting plank in our own! haha! But as a Christ followers we are supposed to pursue holiness and encourage others to do the same in their journey".

Day 77: Faith Based Living

Today we talked about what it means to live like Christ, and why when we are fully devoted to Christ we do not have to prove our Christianity because our lives speak for themselves.

" If we are not bearing good fruit, where are our roots planted? On what foundation do we stand? We must commit ourselves fully to Christ, and continue to make that choice every single day. Everyday we get up we choose to continue following Christ, we choose to dive into His word. We choose to pray and talk to Him, we choose the soil we are planted in. When we do this, and when we start to grow, the fruit from the tree will speak for itself".

Thank you for joining me this week, thank you for sticking it out thus far, stick with me all the way. I love you, I hope you've had an amazing weekend thus far. Enjoy your Sunday and make sure you share this with someone. Be sure to come tomorrow for Day 80!

Day 75: Removing What is Dead

We ended yesterday’s devo with the question we will start this one with.

What is stopping us from taking that leap of faith? What is stopping us from growing in Christ? If we had nothing to lose would we jump?

John 15:2

"Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit."

Sometimes we are carrying around dead weight, meaning we are carrying things that no longer belong to us, we are carrying a burden or burdens that we should have dropped long ago. We cannot jump because we are holding too much weight. When we are going places there’s some things and people that cannot go with us. If we want to grow, if we want to keep moving forward, if we want to take that leap of faith we have to remove the dead weight from ourselves. We have to free ourselves from the burdens we’ve been carrying around.

These burdens and dead weight can be anything from relationships, to habits. We have to release them in order to get to where we need to go. Where God is taking us, there is no room for the extra baggage, there’s no room for dead weight. We have been carrying things around on our hearts, in our lives, things we find security in or things and people we love. Letting go is the hardest when we love the thing we have to let go of. But we cannot let those dead branches remain, we must cut them.

Sometimes we hold on to people and relationships, friendship that have been gone but we’re still trying to make work. Habits that we can’t seem to shake. If we want a tree that bears good fruit we have to cut away the branches that are bearing bad fruit, or no fruit at all. It has no place in where we are going.

Once the dead branches are removed, God continues to prune the healthy branches. Meaning he makes sure that everything dead is cut away, making room for more growth. If we want to grow, if we want the fruit we bear to be good, we have to let go of the dead branches, we have to remove everything from us that is dead. That is the only way we will grow, and be able to make that leap of faith.

Reflection

1. Are you carrying around dead weight?
2. If you had nothing to lose would it be easier to let go?
3. What do you have to lose?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Talk to God about letting go of that which is dead in your life. Allow Him to remove the dead weight.

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 76!

Day 55: Toxic Waste

As we grow up one of the thing we start to learn how to do is be responsible and take care of ourselves. At one point of that growing up process we will realize that taking care of ourselves is more than just paying bills, putting food on our table, and providing for ourselves. It is so much more than being independent. In our twenties we are going through so many changes, our mindsets change, our bodies start to change, a lot of things go through changes. We have to make sure we stop and take care of ourselves, weed out anything that is harming us and be happy people. We know how to pay bills and work, today we are going to explore what it means to focus on ourselves for a bit and taking out the toxic waste in our life. The things that are poisoning us,: spiritually, emotionally and/or mentally, and physically.

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things

We must learn to focus on the positive things. It’s so easy to focus on everything going wrong and sometimes it seems to outweigh the good. But trust me when I say that there is always something to thank God for. We cannot dwell on the things that are screwed up about life, or we will fall into a black hole of sadness, or depression. Life is better than what we perceive it to be sometimes. We  just have to realize that we are not our issues, we are not our struggles, we are not our bad days, we are not our depression. We are children of God, we must set our mind on the things above and trust that God is bigger than the fears, and anxieties. He is greater than it all.

It starts with us

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

A lot of times when we think about detoxing our lives and getting rid of all the things that are not good for us, we start outside of ourselves. We start eliminating people and things out of our lives that are surface issues, not realizing that it is so much deeper. Did we ever think that maybe we’re the problem? We’re the ones wreaking havoc on our own lives. We have to start with ourselves and work from the inside out, or things will never change. We must realize the flaws within ourselves first. A lot of times we are harboring things in our hearts, holding onto pain. hidden sin, unforgiveness. This is toxic to our spiritual health.  We cannot have a real relationship with God if we are harboring all this baggage that keeps us from getting close to Him. Whatever it is we must let it go. Holding on to all this is not doing anything but hurting us, poisoning our spirit. The more we hold on  the worse it gets.

We must take care of our spiritual body as well, if not more, as we take care of our physical body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?

Do you think God will dwell in a place that is unclean? If our temple is cluttered with everything that is not of God, and our own mess, is there any room for the true living God? In order to live a righteous life, we must focus on our spiritual wellness and take care of our soul. We must feed it so that it will grow.  Our spirits thrive off of prayer and scripture.

Prayer is essential to having a relationship with God. It is our direct line to Him. prayer is how we communicate with our Heavenly father. We have no relationship without communication. The same way we put in work to make our earthly relationships work is the same amount of time and effort we should be putting in when it comes to our relationship with God.

One the other hand, God gave us this physical body and we must take care of it. A lot of times I feel like many Christians are under the impression that taking care of ourselves physically, i.e. working out and eating healthy is not necessary, because it isn’t about the looks. Taking care of our body isn’t about having a nice six pack or looking good and having glowing skin (Daniel 1:12-15), that’s just a perk(It is okay for Christians to be attractive). It is about taking care of this vessel God has blessed us with and not abusing it. He has given us this body to live in and we only get one so we better take care of it.  

Sometimes we just have to let go

John 8:32

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free

We will come to times in our live when we will realize that the situation we are in is hazardous to our spiritual, mental, and emotional health. We will realize that certain people are not good for us. We will need to remove ourselves from the situation if we want to continue to grow in our spiritual lives, and life in general. Our eyes have been opened and God has revealed the truth, now what are we going to do with it? This is the hard part, letting go of the things that we love, even though we know they are not good for us. This can be anything from friends to relationships or bad habits. We tend to hold on to the things in which we are emotionally invested, even if it’s tearing our souls apart. Once we know the truth it’s very hard to ignore, so what will we do with it?

Once we get ourselves in line with God and get rid of all the things within us that is poisoning our spirits; we will no longer stand for anything or anyone else outside of us causing us harm.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Take the time to reflect on what was talked about today. Which subject spoke to you the most? Respond to God, talk to Him about what resonated with you. And ask Him to remove the toxic waste out of your life. Talk to Him especially about the things you struggle with in secret, confess to HIm all those hidden sins, knowing that He will not judge you. Be an open book with God today, allow him to remove any and everything that is stopping you from growing in you faith.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 56!

Day 34: Keeping Good Company and Letting Go

I remember growing up my mom would always tell us, “You are known by the company you keep.” At a young age i did not really understand what that meant until I got a bit older and encountered peer pressure. I started to see how being around certain people, I began to alter myself, I picked up their habits, their mannerisms, even their language. That’s fine if the people I was hanging around were good for me, but they weren’t and in due time I became just like them. I always like to think that I am invincible, and no one can change the person I am, but we are all susceptible to people and their influence at one point or another. I know for a fact I was, until I learned to listen to God and my elders wisdom (especially my mother).

-Dyamond

Being influenced by others can work in two ways, and that’s what we are going to talk about today. Are we surrounded by people who help us grow or keep us stagnate, and are we holding on to people who were only supposed to be in our lives for a season?

Proverbs 13:20

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.

1 Corinthians 15:33

Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." (NIV)

Do not be misled: "Bad companionships corrupt good morals.” (BLB)

Proverbs 27:6

You can trust what your friend says, even when it hurts. But your enemies want to hurt you, even when they act nice.

Are we surrounded by people who are helping us grow? Are we growing from one another. As the scriptures says iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17). The people that we choose to surround ourselves with must be people we can depend on, people we can go through life with, people that will hold us accountable and lift us up when we need it, and we are there to do the same for them. We must surround ourselves with people who will help us grow spiritually, people that will challenge us and call us out when we need it. The closest people to us should be the ones that challenge us the most, the people that will tell us the truth even if it’s the last thing we want to hear. In so many words I am saying that we need real people around us. As young Christians, every person that we are friends with will not be Christian and that is okay, but we need people in our lives who have the same beliefs and morals as we do. We need people in our lives who are like-minded, even if it’s just one friend that we can pray with and worship with.

• This is the reason why finding a church and being in fellowship with other Christians is so important. When we are surrounded by people who understand our lifestyle, and have the same heart for God as we do, we can learn and grow together. We must be surrounded and immersed into a God-fearing community. We are the body of Christ, a bible living, Jesus loving community. And we sharpen one another.
• We cannot allow ourselves to be  swayed by the people around us who do not have the same morals or beliefs as we do. As we  grow older, especially in our twenties when many people start to question or try to understand religion and figure out what they believe exactly, we must stand firm in our faith. By doing so we can lead others to Christ, and create a community of believers.

Are we able to let go of the people we know are not good for us or people who are only in our lives for a season? Sometimes we hold on to people who were only meant to be in our lives for a season. Meaning, not everyone we meet is going to be there until the end, and I know at the moment it feels like it is. But sometimes we grow apart, sometimes we’ve reached the end of our road, but cutting ties is the hardest part. Because it hurts, we don’t want to hurt anyone and we don’t want to be hurt. But letting go hurts, it’s not permanent but in the meantime it hurts. We have to trust that God brought these people into our lives for a reason and thank HIm that we even had the opportunity to know them. Just because some people are only in our lives for a season does not mean that they were bad for us, it just means that, life doesn’t always go as we planned.

• The best way I can describe this is going through a breakup (many friendships have gone through break-ups as well). When we are in a relationship, and emotionally invested, we are in love with this person. We think we are going to be together forever. We think we can work everything out, and we can get through everything, we are just caught up in love. But one day, it stops working, we fall out of love, we grow apart, we lose trust, whatever the reason may be; we now have to break up. We know that it will hurt us but we also know that staying will make it worse. So we make a wise decision to let go. We can still be friends, and be cordial but we can’t be how we used to be and that’s okay because that’s life.
• Now on the other hand, some people are just toxic for us, and those people we have to get away from. Run away, don’t walk, get away! Run like Joseph ran from Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39). Some people are only looking to contaminate, and bring others down with them, (and no, that does not mean everyone is out to get us). Those people we can’t keep as company, even when we love them. Some of the most toxic people in our lives are the ones we love the most, but we have to let them go and continue to pray for them.
• All of this to say, that just because we have to let people go does not mean that it is the end. We don't stop loving them. One of my favorite quotes says, “If you love something, let it go, and if it comes back it was meant to be.” Trust God when He says let go, you never know what He has planned up His sleeve.
  
  

Reflection

1. What type of company are you keeping?
2. Are you surrounded by a community that will help you grow in Christ?
3. If God asked you to let go of a certain someone, would you be able to do it? Why or why not?

Prayer Time

Talk to God about what stood out to you today. Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Ask God to send people in your life that are good for you and help you to let go of people, when the time is right. Ask Him to remove the toxic people from your life. Also pray that you are a person who can be good company, and sharpen others.

Have an amazing day. I love you, and make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 35!