Day 353: That's Life: Series (Part 1)

Ecclesiastes 3:12-13

So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

Ecclesiastes 8:15

So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.

This is the start of another series leading to the end of the year. This series we are going to talk about life and uno the teachings that we have been taught for so long, that allows us or makes us see life one way and one way only. We often talk about how pain and suffering is a part of life. But as much as they are so is joy, peace, love, happiness, life is good too. We need to talk about that a bit more than we talk about all the bad things that can come out of life. Life can be rough but that is not all there is to it.

As humans we have become so overtaken with this idea of struggling through life. Fighting against something our entire lives to get to where we are. Proving that we are strong because we’ve been through something. People actually say that until you’ve experienced hardship you haven’t experienced life. We have become what seems like obsessed with the ideas of struggle. The more we’ve gone through the better the testimony. We have misconstrued what life really is. We have taught our children and we have been taught that life is a struggle. Life is hard. Prepare ourselves. Have tough skin. But what if I told you that that was wrong. What if I told you that struggling is only a small part of life compared to good. Pain is only a moment compared to the joy and happiness.

There is just as much peace as there is violence and evil. It’s in us. We have to change our perspective. Not of what we see but how we see things. We have to choose to hang on to that glimmer of hope. Life isn’t all struggle and pain. Trust me it’s not. For the moments when the pain and struggles ceases, why can’t life be butterflies and unicorns? Why can’t we enjoy life to fullest. There’s no one telling us we can’t .Life is beautiful. Life is a gift. Life is a blessing. Witnessing life is a privilege. 

There’s so much more to this life than that we overlook, because when we think about real life we only think about how hard it is. How brutal it can be. How it can chew us up and spit us out. Real life is actually beautiful and full of joy and love when we think about it. Real life is laughing with your friends until the break of dawn. Real life is taking a chance and going on that date with that person. Real life is the thrill of throwing your hands up on a roller coaster. Real life is watching your friends and family succeed and being just as happy for them as you would for yourself. It’s being able to travel across the world to climb a mountain or taste real Italian food. Real life is building up the courage to ask that girl to marry you. It’s being overwhelmed with emotion because you are so happy. Life is sharing moments, the beautiful moments the joyful moments. Life is seeing the smile on the face of someone you love because they've just accomplished something they've been going after for a while. It's seeing you prayers for people come to fruition. Life is all the little moments strung together to make up what we get to describe as living. Life is being vulnerable enough not to just cry when you’re in pain, but to cry because you are happy. Life is not being ashamed to walk down the street holding hands with your best friend because you are grateful God has blessed you with them. Life is telling your family and friends you love them. Life is hugging your family or friends. Or hugging the stranger with the free hugs sign. This may sound crazy to many of you.It sounds crazy to me as I write it. Because we have been conditioned and taught that life is hard. We’ve been trained to be tough so life doesn’t knock us down. We’ve been told since we were young kids in school that life is hard and it can get the best of us. But I want to undo all of that and tell you that you will get the best of life. It will not get the best of you.  

All this to say, we weren't prepared for the beauty of life, or the joys of life, because we've only been conditioned to be tough so that life can't knock us done. With that being said we don't really know how to enjoy life, we don't know how to relax or take a break because we want to be ahead of the game. I want to encourage your day to take a chance and see that there si more to life that being in a constant battle. God did not intend for us to struggle every moment of our lives. Believe or not He actually wants us to enjoy life. He gave us the pleasures of life to enjoy, give yourself permission to enjoy it. 

Reflection 

1. What is your perspective on life?

2. Do you find yourself constantly in the pattern of thinking of life as only a struggle?

3. What are some things you can do to change that perspective?

4. Are you rally living life to the fullest?

Prayer Time 

Allow you answer to the above questions guide your prayer today. Take the time to talk to God about life and thank Him for blessing us with a beautiful life. 

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 354!

Day 351: Life IS Funny (Part 1)

Ecclesiastes 9:11

I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

1 Corinthians 2:9

That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagine what God has prepared for those who love him.”

This is one of the last series of the  year, but for the next couple of days I just want to talk about how unpredictably funny life is. It’s crazy, I sometimes sit back and look at my life, and think, how did i get here? I never would have thought that I’d be in the pace that I am in this moment. But I am and all I can do is thank God for it.

The truth is life is very unpredictable, so unpredictable that it is funny. The things that God does in us and in our lives we could never imagine. Especially when we take a look back at where we were and who we used to be and see how far God has brought us, it leaves us with our jaws dropped. Because He is that good. He is a God of miracles and He works miracles in us. I guess the question I am trying to ask here is, did you ever think your would be where you are? Did you ever think that God could take you and make you into the person that you are? Did you ever think that god could enhance your life and your quality of living the way Eh has. We may not be the person we thought we were going to be at this moment in our lives but we are exactly who God wants us to be. We are exactly where He wants us to be and that is so much better than we could ever do for ourselves.

We all have plans and dreams and vision boards outlining our life and where we want to be in a certain amount of time. We have a plan, we know what we want and we think we know how we are going to get there. The thing about God is that HE knows  the end goal and He knows how we are going to get to where we want to be and it might not be in the time we thought or the way we thought, but when we get there we will know it was HIm. When we get there we can do nothing but laugh because we see how His hand was on us the whole time but better than that, how His plan was so much greater than our. His path is full of growth and love. God sees our plans and He sees our wants and desires and He is not ignoring them. Instead He is taking them and doing what God does, He is making them better He is making us better. He takes our plans and erases the path we thought we would take in exchange for the path HE already had picked out. Let me tell you, this path does not look like our but we will know that it is God’s. The funny thing about it all is that sometimes God’s path doesn’t look right to us. It doesn’t look like we are going in the right direction. When we’re looking at it from where are, sometimes it can look a bit crazy. But when we look back we see the bigger picture. We see the moments that needed to take place. The delays that needed to happen in order for us to get to where we were going. We see the little bumps that needed to be there to prepare us for where we were going.

This is why we put our faith in God. This is why we trust HIm with our life, because even when it looks wrong it’s right. Even when it feels wrong, as long as we are trusting in God it’s right. God’s path may be a bit harder and take a little longer but I can tell you that it is worth the wait. It is worth every moment. God has something so great for each and every one of us, there’s just some work that He needs to do in us as we make our way to it.

All this to say, we might know where we are going, but life is unpredictable. We might now know the next step or we might not know where our foot will land but we have to trust that God’s has a plan, and I can tell you that HE definitely does. When we get to that place that God wants us to be we can laugh in joy because we never would have thought we would be where we are and because we are so grateful that God is in control.

Response/ Prayer Time

Take the time to think about where you have been and who you were. Now take the time to see who and where you are. Thank God for all He has done in your life and just thank Him that His plans are so much greater than ours.

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 352!

Day 292: This Beautiful Image

Psalms 23

1The Lord is my shepherd;

   I have all that I need.

2 He lets me rest in green meadows;

   he leads me beside peaceful streams.

3     He renews my strength.

He guides me along right paths,

   bringing honor to his name.

4 Even when I walk

   through the darkest valley,

I will not be afraid,

   for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff

   protect and comfort me.

5 You prepare a feast for me

   in the presence of my enemies.

You honor me by anointing my head with oil.

   My cup overflows with blessings.

6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me

   all the days of my life,

and I will live in the house of the Lord

   forever.

I just want to talk about this beautiful image that David paints in the world renowned passage. We all know Psalms 23 or have heard it or read it somewhere. It is a very famous passage, but it was not until recently that I found myself taken by the beauty of this passage. We serve a God who does great things, and is always faithful. I think one of the things we can attribute to God is beautiful. Everything He is, everything He does, is beautiful. Beautiful beyond words. My favorite moments are the ones when I can just take in the beauty of God’s creation, take in the beauty that He is, and carry that with me. It feels so good, it’s a feeling that cannot be described.

I talk about this beauty because I think this passage has that. From the words that are beautifully written but most importantly the message. From the first verse to the sixth, the message here is awe inspiring. I’m going to do a verse by verse breakdown, because I want you to experience the beauty of this message as well.

We have everything we need because the Lord is our shepherd. Everything we could ever need is in our God. As long as we follow Him we will have it all.

God gives us rest. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a meadow or been in one but they are so beautiful and so relaxing. It’s like this large open field of grass, that just makes you want to relax when you see a picture of it. Then the scripture goes on to say that God leads us beside peaceful streams. I think this a testament of what it is like to walk with God. It’s a beautiful life. Not everyone is resting in meadows and walking beside peaceful streams. But this is where God takes His people.

Verse three talks about His strength. God renews our strength. He is constantly pouring into us. The more God pours into the more glory is brought to His name. God give us strength in every moment of our lives. Our lives will always bring glory to His name.

Walking with God means that there is no place for fear. Even when we are in our darkest moments, God is right there with us leading us through. He comforts us when we need it. He is right there protecting us, going to battle for us and destroying anything that will try to harm us. I wonder how many times God has intercepted an attack from satan. An attack that never reached us because God goes before us to clear the path.

Verse five, God does a much better job at handling our enemies than we do. God honors us in the presence of everyone who was against us. He pour so much into us that our cup overflows. God will pour out blessings, on blessings, on blessing upon His people. That’s how much He loves us, He will give us more than we ask for. Walking with God brings some pretty hefty rewards.

We will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Yes, serving God brings some hefty blessing but none can compare to eternity with Him. Nothing can compare to the Joy and peace we have in Him. It says goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life. God is in constant pursuit of our hearts. He is good, and His love is unfailing. This is the type of love that pursues. God wants us to know of His goodness and for us to experience His unfailing love. It is so beautiful how great He is.

All this to say, God is beautiful. He paints these beautiful images with His word, but going beyond that, God is just so beautiful. I mean He did create beauty. Everything He touches is beautiful, all things from God are beauty. I just want us to dwell in that beauty. Live in it. Life is beautiful because God is beautiful.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Take the time to go over Psalms 23, reread it again, and take in the beauty of this message, and the beauty of the image that is being painted with these words. Take that with you as you pray today. Have a conversation with God about what we discussed today. Take the time to praise Him and thank Him that He makes all things beautiful.

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 293!