Day 117: Stepping into the Desert

Exodus 14:10-14,As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’” But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.  The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

Exodus 16:3, “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.”

Numbers 14:4, Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”

The people of Israel were in bondage for four hundred years. They were slaves to the Egyptians, and throughout those four hundred years they cried out to God, praying and begging Him to free them from bondage. So God goes, “I’ve heard the cries of my people, I will free them from this bondage and give them a land flowing with milk and honey.” He sends Moses, and long story short, Moses goes to Pharaoh like, “Let my people go!” and Pharaoh is like, “No”. Then God sends all these plagues and Pharaoh is like, “Take them!” Then as they are leaving Pharaoh and his army decides to go after them, and God parts the Red Sea for their ultimate escape, and Pharaoh and his army drowned in the Red Sea. Then their is a journey they have to go on, before they can get to the place of milk and honey. They have to walk, they didn’t have cars back then all they had were horses, carriages, and sandals. Seeing that they were slaves most of them probably didn’t even have that. And it was Africa, they were near the equator, lots of dry land and heat. The Middle east was the same, desert and heat everywhere, there’s no escaping it. They had to go through the desert in order to get to the promised land.

Now the Israelites cried out to God to be free, but before they were even completely out of the sight of Pharaoh and his army they were begging to go back. They were complaining that it was too hard. THis was before they crossed the Red Sea. They saw the people who had them in bondage for four hundred years coming towards them and for a moment forgot who was really in control. I love Moses’ response to them as they are freaking out and having meltdowns. He seems to be at peace with the whole situation. He’s like, “Chill y’all, chill out God’s got us.” God will not bring us out of something and not see us all the way through. He will always make a way, to the Israelites it looked like it was over. They were caught between the enemy and the sea, but here comes God being God, splitting the water so they could walk on dry land to get across that sea. God won’t bring us to the sea and not give us a way through or across it. Not only did God make a way  for them to cross the Red Sea and out of bondage, He drowned all the oppressors in the Sea. They could no longer pursue the people of Israel. There was no one to come and take them back, if they went it was solely their choice. Which brings me to my next point.

What do we do when the grass isn’t greener on the other side. Not in a sense that where they left was better than where they were going. They had to do some gardening if they wanted that grass to be greener. Meaning what do we do when we realize we have to grow the grass; we have to do some planting and watering, and waiting before anything pops up from the ground.? These are the things the people of Israel faced, they had to go on a journey before they could get to the Promised Land, they weren’t teleporting there. They had to walk through the hot desert, and at some points they said, it would be better if we had stayed in Egypt. In this specific passage the people were in the need of food, they were hungry. They were probably hangry, and the angry part of that word go the best of them (giving them the benefit of the doubt). I don’t know, all I know is sometimes hanger makes you a little crazy. Now the people are complaining to Moses and they’re all, “At least when we were in Egypt we weren’t dying of starvation, you brought us out here to die.”  It seems like every time the journey got hard, they started to reminisce about what it would be like if they were still slaves. It wasn’t the best life but it was better than this, or that’s what they thought. God heard the cries of the people and He gave them bread from heaven in the morning, and gave them meat to eat by night. Then in Genesis 17 the people are once again complaining because they are thirsty, and God hears their grumbling, He gives them water, from a rock. From a rock!

THe israelites got what they wanted, but when the saw that it wasn’t exactly how they wanted it they were ready to go back to their old lives. But the most profound thing about this story is that if the Israelites had never stepped into the desert they would have never experienced the true glory of God. They would not have witnessed the miracles, they would not know that even when there seems to be no way, with God there is always a way. It was only when they lost faith that they started to regret leaving Egypt. But sometimes, sometimes we have to step into the  desert and watch God work. We have to venture into the unknown, we have to go places we don’t go. Stepping out into the desert is taking a step or leap even when you don’t know where you foot or feet will land. That’s called faith. If God can split an entire sea, if he could make bread and manna rain down from heaven, if He can give us water from a rock. What more can He do? God won't lead us to the sea and not give us a way through it. He won’t lead us into the desert without making sure that we are taken care of.

When we ask God to bring us through or out of something, we have to be sure that we are ready to walk into the desert. That we are ready and willing to trust Him. I know we get mad at the Israelites for doing all of this stuff. But that is or has been many of us as Christians. When things get hard, we think or even sometimes vocalize that life was a lot easier when we were living in the world. I can tell you that the trip back will be just as hard, as the trip there, the difference is one has a reward, and the other is just old news that we decided to turn back to.

Reflection

1. Can you Identify with the Israelites?  
2. Have you ever thought about going back into the world when life as a Christian gets hard?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Whatever stood out to the most today bring it God in prayer. Just talk to HIm, have an open conversation with the Lord.

I love you, and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. I love you so much, make sure you share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 118!

Day 110: Strong Enough to Hold

John 21:1-11

After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?”They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards[a] off. 9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

Today, we are going to focus on that last statement of this passage, “The net was not torn” I think this simple sentence is so important to this passage. God will prepare us for what is coming, and he will make sure we are strong enough to hold the magnificent blessings He will hail upon our lives.

These men had been out on this boat all night long fishing and caught nothing. All night, and as day was breaking, just in time for breakfast, Jesus comes and asks if they have any fish, after they said no, Jesus tells them to cast the net on the right side of the boat. My favorite part is that they didn’t question him, they did exactly as He said. They didn’t give an excuse saying, they had been fishing all night and they knew there was nothing. They could have, they could have said no. They could have told him that they had been out there all night. But I think they were out there because they were expecting something. They could have left in the first few hours after catching nothing. They could have left at midnight, when they didn’t catch anything. I’m not exactly sure how many times they threw the net in the water and came up with nothing but I’m going to guess it was several times seeing that they were out there there all night.

That’s how it is for us sometimes, when we are expecting something, when we want something, or need something. We throw our net out so many times and come back empty handed. We cast our net hoping for a few fish, and come back with nothing. We even drop our expectations, ‘Lord if I could have one just one, I’ll be alright.” And even then we come up with nothing. And after a while that empty net gets heavier and heavier, but we throw it in faith anyway. “Maybe this time we’ll catch something.” It’s hard not to fall into the mindset that it will never work, because so far, it hasn’t. But Jesus comes, and He says, “Throw that net out one more time, but throw it in this specific spot.”  Notice that Jesus didn’t say how much they would receive for throwing the net into the water. He simply says “throw it on the right side of the boat, and you’ll find some”.

There are three things to note in this passage: Problem, instruction, solution. God is the solution to all of our problems but we must listen to and follow His instructions. God always has a solution, it never fails.   

Problem: They had no fish after fishing all night long.

Instruction: Throw the net on the right side of the boat.

Solution: They hauled in 153 fish.

There is a step in between ‘instruction’ and ‘solution’ called obedience, and this is where we decide how the story will end. What if they didn’t listen to Jesus? Them and everyone they were fishing for would have been hungry. They had to decide to take another chance, what would it hurt, what would they have to lose? Casting the net into the water again wasn’t that big of a deal, it’s quite simple actually. The challenge was listening to Jesus when he said cast the net into the water. But once we get over our preconceived notions then we will understand the simplicity of His instructions. If you want some fish keep casting that net. If you want some fish do what He says and you will receive. We have to make the choice to listen when God is calling. We have to choose to trust in His word. God is telling us exactly what to do, will we listen? It’s that moment of choosing to obey the word of God that could change our lives forever.

He has so many things prepared for us, and He is building us day by day preparing us for what is coming. When the disciples chose to listen to Jesus they were in store for something big, bigger than what they thought could happen. That seems to be just how God works. I know they were expecting fish but I wonder if they thought they would catch so many. When we put our faith in God He can and will go so far beyond what we ask or think, because He is God. The beauty in it all is that He will make sure that we are able to hold the enormous blessings He will shower us with. The scripture says they were dragging a net full of fish onto the shore. There were so many fish, but the net was not torn. God will make sure that whatever He has for us we are ready to receive. A lot of times we want God to bless us with everything at once, but God know what we can handle and how much we can’t. He is preparing us, so that when that enormous blessing comes our way we will be strong enough to hold it. We will not tear.

Reflection

1. Put yourself in the shoes of the disciples for a minute. You have been out all night fishing, you’ve caught nothing. All night and not one bite. It’s the crack of dawn and someone is one the shore, you don’t know who it is yet. They first ask you if you have any fish, after a long night of fishing you say no. He tells you to cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find them there. WOuld you do it?

Prayer Time

Ask God to help you heed His word and instruction, and be obedient to the things that He tells you to do. Find comfort in knowing that god is preparing you for what He has for you and whatever it is it will be great. Just listen to His instruction and move when He says move.

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 111!

Day 50: Hunger Pangs

Have you ever been in a place where you are so hungry your body can’t help it? You start to say things like “My stomach is eating itself.” or “My stomach is touching my back”. Because you are that hungry, and if you don’t get food quick enough you will start to get hangry. Like the snicker’s commercial, “you're not you when you're hungry”. The best feeling is satisfying that hunger, you finally get that food, and it’s like the best thing you ever had. In that moment your meal is the best part of your day or life. You get seconds because you just can’t get enough, it’s so good. That’s how it is when our spirit hungers for God, we cannot get enough of Him. He is the best thing that ever happened to us, To hunger is to have a strong desire or craving for. We must get to a point where we want God more than we want food or air. Our spirits will yearn for Him. We will soon realize that we cannot be ourselves without him.

Psalms 42:2

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?

John 6:35

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.

Today I want to talk about when our spirits long for Christ. When we are hungry and thirsty for his presence, and when our spirits are starving.

We know for a fact that outside of God we are nothing, we need God, that’s something we can’t get around. We need Him more than anything. Our spiritual lives thrive off of His presence. We get to a point where we cannot bear to be without Him. We know we need God but we have to want Him, because if we don't we'll find ourselves only calling on Him when we need something specific, and urgent; totally dismissing the fact that we need God every second of every day. There’s something about hunger and thirsting for God. We want Him so bad that we can’t help ourselves. We want a relationship, we want intimacy with Him. We want to be near Him, wherever God is, that’s where we want to be. When we give our lives to Christ we fill a void that has for a long while been  waiting to be filled. Once we feel that completeness of Christ with Christ, we want more. Our spirits long to grow with Him, we begin to dive into His word. Our lives change to the point where we want God at the center, because everything comes from Him. Our lives begin to revolve around God, because we understand the need for Him is beyond our understanding. We just want to be wrapped up in His love, everyday. I have to say that this is the best feeling in the world. Knowing that my hunger will forever be satisfied. Jesus says He is the bread of life, and those who come to Him will never hunger again. I want that bread, I need that bread in my life. It’s spiritual bread, it is the word of God that feeds our spirits. It is Christ that quenches our thirst. As long as we have Christ in our life we will never go hungry, we will never thirst.

On the other hand, some of our spirits are starving, and thirsty, some of us are missing that fulfillment we need from Christ. The hunger pangs are there, the thirst is there, but our spirits are getting weaker everyday due to lack of food and water. If Christ is the bread of life, we must go to Him when we are hungry so that we may be fed. Our spirits need nutrients and the type of nutrients it needs can only come from the word of God. Feeding our spirit is just as important as feeding our physical bodies, if not more. We need food and water to survive, as do our spirits. If we go long enough without food and water we will starve to death, or dehydration would kill us. Some of us are close to a spiritual death, our spirits are hungry and dry. It’s been so long since we’ve opened our bible, or prayed, or gone to church. We don’t even call to God in our times of distress because we are too shamed. Don’t sacrifice your spirit for your pride.

When we’re separated from God, when our spirits are longing for HIm but they're starving, we tend to act out, because we are trying to figure out what is wrong. We start to forget who we are, because our life is no longer centered around the living God, our personal Savior. We stopped going to the well that never runs dry. When we decide that our hunger pangs are far too much to bear on our own we will realize that God is food we need. Christ is the bread, His word is the water. We cannot live without them. There's no use in trying.

Reflection

1. What spoke to your heart the most today? Why?
2. Is your spirit hungry for God?
3. Is that hunger being satisfied daily or is your spirit starving?
   
   

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above question fuel your prayer. Talk to God about the thirst in your heart. Ask Him to set a fire in your soul that will never go out, but will always burn for Him.

Maybe you are on the other side of the spectrum. You’ve realized that your spirit is starving, bring that heart to God. Allow him to replenish you, allow Him to restore your spirit, your passion, and love for Him. Know that God loves you, and He will never let you go. Just take His hand.

Bring your heart to Christ, whatever it looks like, He can take it, Rest in His love and His presence. He loves you.

I hope you have an amazing day or evening. I love you so much!

Share this with a friend and make sure you come back tomorrow for day 51!

Day 45: It Is My Duty

It Is My Duty...

It is our duty as Christians, as the body of Christ to care for, defend, speak up, and lift up our brothers and sisters. We cannot sit around and do nothing when we have the ability to change a situation for the better. We are our brother's keeper. We must stand together and be one body, or else we fall.

Galatians 6:1-2

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

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.

How many times have we been in a position to do something for someone and didn’t? How many times have we seen our neighbor falling and didn’t pick them up? How many times have we stood by and watched the oppressed remain oppressed? Many times we have the ability to do things and we do not because it will mean sacrificing self. It will mean possibly ruining a reputation, or image that we have taken so long to build. But God did not give us the power and authority to rule His nations, and have dominion over the land for nothing. God has place His word on our hearts, He has given us the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. We are His people, and sometimes we have to stand up for His people. He is instructing us to lift up our brothers and sisters, carry their burdens, be a voice for the voiceless. It is our duty.

Standing up and speaking about it is one thing, and praying about it is another thing, and something we must do. But God gave us the gifts and ability to act, we have to put these words in action and be there for our brothers and sisters. And this sometimes means standing up for those whose lifestyles we don’t necessarily like or agree with. It means loving and defending our enemy, It means opening our door to people we wouldn’t usually sit next to on the train. And yes, it means taking in refugees. Jesus never turned anyone away, he never pushed anyone away because of their lifestyle, but He came for everyone. He came to heal, and direct His people. We must take on the attitude of Christ towards others.

It is our duty to:

1, hold one another accountable, and when we see our neighbors falling we are there to restore them and pick them up. Many times we are quick to judge the sins of our fellows Christians without knowing what led them to turn away from from God. But the moment we see someone slipping we should all be rushing to make sure they stay on track. Because that is how we are supposed to love and care for one another.  We cannot be the type of people to kick someone when they are down, that is not Christ-like. We must lift them up, we must pray for them, and with them. We must go to our brother or sister and let them know that God is greater than their sin, or struggle. God has equipped all of us, so that when one falls the next is there to catch them. If we can help bear the burden, why not take it on. Standing on the sideline and encouraging with our words sometimes isn't enough. We have to get in the game a play in order to get a victory. And when that victory comes we have to be okay with receiving no recognition for it. Because we do not help our brothers and sister for what we will get out of it. We have to put ourselves aside, for the well-being of others, and that in itself is a reward. Jesus did it for us, so let’s pass it on.

2. Stand up for one another. We have a voice, and God has given us the words and wisdom to speak up when we need to. Many times as Christians we shy away from speaking up out of fear that we will be judged. Well, news flash, we’re judged every day of our lives whether we know it or not or whether we like it or not, so that’s something we can stop being afraid of. There are people that need our voice, who better to speak for them than the body of Christ? There are people being oppressed and if we can do something about why not? People are waiting for us. If we are loving our neighbors as ourselves that means we are standing up for our neighbors the way we stand up for ourselves. We are defending and protecting our neighbors the way we would defend and protect ourselves. Because we love them, and it is our duty.

• I don’t care if we agree with people, or the lifestyle they live, it’s not for us to judge. God does the judging. What we are here to do is love them. All of them, not just the people we like, not just Christians, not just the people we know. We are to love EVERYONE. Standing up for each other, being there, speaking up, and defending our brothers and sisters falls under the umbrella of love.

Alot has fallen on this generation. We are living in and have grown up in a time where there is a lot of pressure to fix everything broken in this world, and create a better one for the generation after us. One thing’s for sure is that we cannot fix it without Christ. Now is the time for us as not only young people with a voice, but young Christians to be on the frontline of every outlet. We must occupy the space we are in and use the platform we have been given to share the message of Christ, to give the people hope in a Savior that saved us long before we knew we needed it. A Savior that was thinking 2500 years in the future when He died so that we may live. The world needs us as the body of Christ to stand up and protect, and speak His word. We must declare that the power of the living God is greater than all the chaos that ensues in the world on a daily basis. We must be the love that the world is missing, We are representatives of Christ and we must lead His people back to Him. Use the gifts He has given you to spread His message. No matter how big or small your platform is, we each have the ability to reach somebody and that somebody can reach someone else, and we will start a chain reaction. Occupy the space you're in.  

Reflection

1. Reflect on what was discussed today. Do you believe that it is your duty to stand up, protect, and lift up your brothers and sisters?
2. How can you use the gifts and platforms God has given to reach His people?
3. What are ways that you can stand up for and defend the oppressed, give a voice to the voiceless, and lift those up who have fallen?
4. GO do it! But first…
   
   

...Prayer Time

Take the time today to pray for the world, and the state that it is in right now. Make that prayer a little more detailed, pray for your country, your city, your town, your village, your island, your community, your home. Pray that the people will be united and reunited with the one and only living God. Pray for wisdom, that you will be able to stand up for your brothers and sisters in a Christ-like manner.

Now go out there and fulfill your duty! Have an AWESOME day or evening, I love you! Share this with a friend and make sure you come back tomorrow for day 46!

Day 42: God Knows My Heart

“I know what I’m doing is wrong but God knows my heart.”

“I don’t go to church, God knows my heart.”

“I’m not perfect, God knows my heart.”

How many times have we used the phrase, “God knows my heart.” as an excuse to do what we want, or get out of something we don’t want. Most likely when your grandmother asks when you're going to get your life right with Christ and start going to church again. I grew up hearing this from my older cousins and siblings, this statement only came up when we were on the topic of church, or being a Christian.

Jeremiah 17:9-10

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?  “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Proverbs  2:12

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.”

1 Kings 8:34

“You know what is in everyone’s heart. So from your home in heaven answer their prayers, according to the way they live and what is in their hearts.”

It is very true that God knows our heart, every inch of it, He sees. He knows the good, bad, the beautiful and the ugly that comes from these hearts of ours. Today we will address this overused statement and take it a bit further.

The heart is tricky, and can deceive us into thinking that we are always right because we feel it in our our hearts. I’m just going to do what my heart is telling me to do, because I know that would be right. Sometimes the heart is wrong. We are flawed human beings and our hearts do not always steer us in the right direction, especially when we are not firmly planted in the Christ. One of the reasons, David is called a man after God’s own heart is because He abandoned the desires of His own heart to submit to the desires and the heart of God. He sought after the perfect heart, in the perfect man. Our hearts are not always pure, our hearts hold anger, grudges, pain, deceit, violence but God’s heart is pure. In Psalms 51:10 David says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”  I think David knew that His heart as is would continue to lead him down the path of sin, so He asked God to purify it, remove everything from my heart that is not like you. God knows our hearts, and He knows it’s not like His.

Do we really understand the depth of the statement, “God knows my heart”? To flip it on it’s head, it does not always have to be an excuse to our sin. God knows our potential, and He gives us a heart that will eventually look like His. God knows the person we are, because He made us. God knows us who we are, and He sees the greatness in us when no one else can. God knows how beautiful our hearts are, when we submit them to Him. Some people will choose to see the bad in us, but God judges the heart.

Sometimes we will go through periods where people don’t understand us, or they do not understand why we are doing things certain way. Sometimes people can’t understand how we are doing God’s will in the field we are in.  

As an actress who left acting for ministry and then stepped down from ministry to go back to acting I identify with this so much. Because of the career that I have chosen, and the field I am in people don’t understand why I would “give up” ministry to go into a “secular field”. Which is very off putting, because they act as if I have given up on God. I find myself trying to explain that I'm still a Christian rather than why I chose to be an actress. It feels so weird, I find myself trying to prove that I still have a heart for God, and always will. But God knows that, He placed this heart within me.

-Dyamond

But God knows that even no matter where we are as long as we are firm in our faith, and rooted in Christ our hearts will forever be lost in Him.

God knows the condition of every heart, and He knows how to heal every heart. The worst person in the world can have a complete turn around because they allowed Christ into their heart, but because of the their past people will never take the chance to get to see their true heart, but God does.  

God knows the honesty of our hearts, the depths of our hearts, He knows the scars on our hearts, and the weights that lie heavy on them. God looks at the one thing that man looks past, He pays very close attention to our hearts and the condition of them.. We can look one way to people and look completely different to God because He sees our heart, and He judges us according to what is in our hearts.

Reflection

1. What resonated with you the most today?
2. How often have you found yourself saying the statement, "God knows my heart" or something similar? Did you use it as as excuse? When did you use it and in what context?

Prayer Time

Read over the passages talked about today and ask God to search your heart. Pray the prayer David prayed in Psalms 51:10 “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Repeat this and allow God to change your heart. Know that His heart is greater than ours, and that he can remove anything that is keeping us back from Him. God wants our hearts, He can handle them better than we can.