Day 267: All the Time #WasteTheirTime2017

Galatians 4:17-18

Those false teachers are so eager to win your favor, but their intentions are not good. They are trying to shut you off from me so that you will pay attention only to them. If someone is eager to do good things for you, that’s all right; but let them do it all the time, not just when I’m with you.

Have you ever known those people, or even experienced it in a relationship, that are only nice to you when others are around. When they want all of your attention, they don’t want your attention to be taken away from them and put on someone else. It’s like when you’ve dated someone and even though you’re no longer together they don’t want you to be with anyone else. They pretend like they still want to be with you because seeing you with someone else will mean that they are no longer the one who gets most of your attention or affection. It’s a bit crazy when you think about it but it seems like some people are into wasting people’s time. #WasteHerTime2017 #WaseHisTime2017.

I believe that this is what Paul is getting into in this scripture. He’s telling the people that these false teachers only want you to follow them, they only want you to turn away from the truth that I have taught you. They want to turn your attention from me so they can gain followers in their false doctrine and teachings. Paul says two things that I want to point out. He talks about how these false teachers do not have good intentions. They want to win you over but it is not in any way in good heart. They want you for their own gain, not for what they can do for you. What I’m saying is, not everyone who is nice to you is not for you. Not everyone who smiles in your face has your best interest at heart. Sometimes people are using you to elevate themselves. There are people that only want you by thee side because they see your potential to be great and fear that you will be greater than them. It’s sad but it is true. There are many false people walking around pretending and if we are rooted in Christ discerning in the spirit we will fall right into their trap. This is not how God wants us to live, we cannot live in fear of someone else’s potential because the same God that created them and gave them a purpose is the same God that created us and gave us a purpose.

Paul then goes on to say, “If someone is eager to do good things for you, that’s all right; but let them do it all the time, not just when I’m with you.” I want to speak to the friendships and relationships with this one. If you have someone in your life that is only good to you around certain people and could care less any other time, it’s time to start cutting people out your life. We all know those people, or maybe we are that person. But we have had experiences where people only want us in their lives not because they truly love us or like us but because they don’t want us to be in someone else’s life. That is not Godly, we are not things to be possessed and disposed of when we’re no longer useless to you. It goes the other way as well, we should not treat people this way. True friends, boyfriends, or girlfriends are there for you all the time, they don’t turn their friendship or relationship on and off. Like Paul says, it’s alright if people want to do good things for you, but let them do it all the time. Let them be the same all the time. Let them do it in private just as in public. Our lives are not a show to entertain people. I feel like we have all been here, whether we have been the person doing this to someone else or it’s been done to us. Sometimes people just want us in their lives to prove something to another person.

All this to say, some people are great at telling and making up stories to get you on their side. We are not put on earth for human gain whether we are here to glorify God and expand His Kingdom, Don’t use someone else’s life for your own personal gain. Don’t be out here wasting people’s time for no reason.  

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond to what we discussed today. Talk to God about what we discussed. Ask Him for the spirit of discernment and ask Him to search your heart and purify it.

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 268!

Day 125: Let's Not Jump to Conclusions

I’m pretty sure we all have that one friend or family member that could win the gold medal for jumping to conclusions. Even when it’s out of nowhere, and over the smallest things. We all know that one person that makes a big deal out of nothing, and complicates life more than it has to be. We all know this person, and if you don’t know this person...you most likely are this person 😁. I think we have all been in this place in our life, and are probably still going through it. I know me personally, I can be the queen of jumping to conclusions, I can jump to a conclusion faster than a from leaps through lily pads.

Today I want to talk about how we sometimes do this in our relationships with God. We think we know how the story is going to end or what will happen because we got a small taste of something. when we really have no idea.

Proverbs 28:5

Don't jump to conclusions - there may be a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw.

You ever see or hear something, and automatically come up with some type of conclusion as a reflection of what you just witnessed.  Like an argument over text, you read a text message, you can’t really know the tone of it, because it's a text message, but you create it in your head. Thus leading to an argument over assumption. Parents jump to conclusions when children are being nice and doing things we weren’t asked to do, like cleaning. They assume that we must want something. Most of the time we do but that's not the point right now. They assume before they know, but we still love them. 👅😂 My point is we have all done it, and many of us still do.

Genesis 12: 10-20

Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance,12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 17 But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” 20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

Now here is a story of what can happen when you jump to conclusions too quickly. Abram probably won a lot of brownie points with his wife for this one. He told her she was so beautiful that other men might kill him in order to have her. So he came up with the plan to say they were siblings. When Pharaoh finds out he angrily sends them away. Abram could have just said, this is my wife and not been kicked out by Pharaoh. Pharaoh obviously was grieved that he almost had another man's wife. Jumping to conclusions got them both kicked out. 

Sometimes we do this to the people in our lives who mean well and even to God. We assume the worst when, if we just take the time to understand what is going on it might not be that bad. You ever concluded that God wasn’t listening or didn’t care because you did not get an immediate response, or something did not work out the way you planned. I know I have. Sometimes it’s unintentional, there’s this whole “if this, then that" theory. If God doesn’t do this by this time, then He must not want me to have it. Or if God doesn't answer, when I want Him to, then He must not be listening. That is not always the case, God is working on us, and His timing is perfect, and sometimes at the onset of trouble we assume we know how this story is going to end. Sometimes we come to the conclusion that God is punishing us for something we did wrong. God can be preparing us for a blessing or preparing us for something He is about to do in our lives but because we are so quick to jump the gun and assume, we end up standing there with our mouths open in shock when we realize what He is really doing. We can’t jump to the end before we take the journey. Sometimes the end we see is just a mountain blocking the finish line.

We also do it to other people, as Abram did to Pharaoh, and all the men of Egypt. We assume we know something about people because of what we see or feel. Abram did not give the men of Egypt a chance before coming to the conclusion that they would kill him for his wife. How many times have we done this to someone, rather it be someone we know well, or not that much? It happens a lot in relationships and friendships. The moment something doesn’t go as we think it should we assume the worst. We pull away when we think our relationships are going south. Without first taking the time to suss through what is actually going on. It may not be what we think.

Have you ever been in a position where someone assumed that you were leading a life of sin because they haven’t seen you at church in a while? Or because you are “acting different”? Or have we done it to someone else? We cannot assume we know what’s going on in someone’s life if we never talk to them. We cannot assume we know what God is doing if we only go to him when we need something.

Moral of the story, our minds can sometimes deceive us, it’s a human flaw. But we do not have to act on the conclusions we jump to. Make sure we know the full story before we assume. We might realize that we were wrong.

Reflection

1. Are you one to jump to conclusions?
2. What was the outcome?
3. Do you think jumping to a conclusion is helpful? Why or why not?

Prayer Time

Allow your  answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Speak to God about what ever resonated with you.  Have a conversation with Him.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing Day or Evening! Share this with someone, without being subliminal, and make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 126!

Day 64: Respond with Love (Dealing with People)

One thing we can all agree on is that there are some people, who are hard to deal with. There are people that we would rather not be around. We all know someone who is just mean, and mad at the world. Maybe we were that person. But sometimes dealing with people and their attitudes is exhausting. Especially when you try to do it the way Jesus would, then it just gets hard.

Proverbs 29:11

Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back.

Proverbs 15:1

A gentle answer turns away rage, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Luke 6:27 

But I say to you people who are listening to me, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.

As we grow older we go through a point of being hot-headed, hard headed, and very short tempered. We have all been in a position where we have either flipped out on someone or had to bite our lips and tongue not to. As we grow in Christ we will start to learn how to control our tongue but also how to respond to people who are mean and just hard to deal with. We all have that one thing that set us off. There’s a lot we can overlook and avoid but there’s that one button that if pressed will take from zero to a hundred in a matter of seconds. But what if we could control even that. as we grow in Christ even our biggest triggers become things that we can brush off because it’s not worth the energy.

The best thing we can do is respond with love. I know it sounds crazy and it is so hard to do, and we may fail many times before we master it. Anyone who knew me when I was eighteen compared to now can testify to this statement. We have to learn how to bite our tongue and give a soft answer. Sometimes we will constantly be provoked by others, who want to see us get angry. I’d like to point out that being angry is not a sin. It is what we do with that anger that can lead us to sin. Ephesians 4:26 says, Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, I’m not telling you that you can’t be angry but don’t act on it. Be angry but do not allow that angry to let you fall into to sin, and don’t let it turn into a grudge. Nothing good comes from acting on anger.

Exodus 14:14

God will fight the battle for you. And you? You keep your mouths shut!”

Psalms 141:3

Post a guard at my mouth, God, set a watch at the door of my lips.

Our biggest defense against others is out mouth, some of us are very keen with the comebacks. If you are like me you are very sarcastic and your mouth is very smart. I had to learn how to shut my mouth sometimes, because I used my bluntness as an excuse to be rude and disrespectful. I also used my smart mouth as a defense mechanism. I had to get past my own pride of feeling like less of a person or even a woman, if I didn’t attack my attacker and win. I always had to come back harder when someone came at me, to prove that i wasn’t to be played with. That was the pride in me.

-Dyamond

But when dealing with others we must be able to look past our anger and see that they have a heart just as we do. They can hurt the same way we do. We do not inflict pain on someone because we can or because we want to, even though they might do it to us, just to get them back. We have to respond with love, even to the most  grotesque things that comes our way. We have to let God handle the battle, as only He can. Now this does not mean that we allow people to treat us any kind of way, it is okay to defend ourselves. As the men did in the book of nehemiah when they were building the wall. Nehemiah 4:18, And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.

One of the best examples I can think of at the moment is when the men came to capture Jesus and Peter cut off one of their ears. Peter responded with violence, Jesus responded with love.

Luke 22:48-51

48 but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49 And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the servant[h] of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.

Now this is the part of the bible where Jesus is betrayed by judas and was arrested to face the death penalty . This is where the disciples became our friend group. We all have those group of friends that we have been through everything with and we will fight for if we had to. When one of us is in danger we’re all coming to their defense. Then there’s always one specific person in the group who just reacts. This is how it was that night was ,the disciples were ready to go to war for Jesus. They saw what was happening and they all looked at Jesus like do we need to start cutting people, do we need to pull out these swords? Before Jesus could answer Peter pulled out his sword and cut off someone’s ear.

It was at this very moment that Jesus showed us what it meant to respond with love. He yelled for Peter to stop, and then went over to the man, who was preparing to kill Him, and healed him. That’s love, mind you, this man was here to carry out the plan of killing Jesus. Throughout His crucifixion Jesus showed us what a soft answer or no answer at all looks like. People walked up to Him, spat on Him, punched Him, slapped Him, and He never responded with anger or hate, always love. And in the end God was glorified.

Sometimes it’s not worth the time to get back at someone, or get angry, many times the best thing we can do is respond with love. Return rage with kindness. I know it’s hard, but it isn’t impossible.

Reflection

1. Are you easily angered or hot tempered?
2. How much of a struggle is it for you to respond with love?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Take in everything that was talked about today, and talk to God about it. Ask Him to help you control your tongue, and teach you how to respond with love. If you have easily angered talk to God about controlling your anger. Pray for those who are hard to deal with, pray for your enemies, and pray for yourself.

I love you! I hope you have an amazing weekend. Make sure you share this with someone and be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 65!

 

Day 49: Worthy of Our Praise

Have you ever been in a situation and the only explanation you have for getting through it is God. You can’t say anything else but, “It was God.”

Sometimes I am so in awe of my heavenly Father that words fail me because they cannot describe how awesome God is. I live for those moments, the ones where I look back over my life and see how God’s hand has always been on me, how he was guiding me the whole time. How we was going before me, and fighting on my behalf, clearing the path so I can walk through untouched.

-Dyamond

God is just that great, we might not see His hand but we know it’s there. We will probably never be able to wrap our minds completely around the goodness of God. We learn more and more everyday about how great He is. The honest to God truth is that some things man can never understand, some things are so far beyond our capability that there is no other explanation but a living god.

Psalms 118:16

The strong right arm of the LORD is raised in triumph. The strong right arm of the LORD has done glorious things!

In the Lord we find victory, and peace. The glory of God is our stronghold, God has done so much for us, He is constantly working on our behalf. We are constantly thanking God for what He has done and what He is going to do, but I want to add something onto that. Let’s thank God for what He is doing right now, don’t wait until the storm is over, or until we get what we want to praise Him, he deserves our praise every second of everyday. He is glorious, all things good come from Him. We serve an all powerful, all knowing, God.

The most amazing thing about God is that no matter what happens, or what we do, He could never love us less. God loved us even when we didn’t deserve it. He is the one constantly keeping us going, He is the one who gives us a reason to live everyday, just by waking us up. There is nothing too big for Him. We find hope in the Lord because we know that there’s always a victory in His hands, even when we are in our darkest days, our deliverance, or breakthrough lies in the hands of God.

Psalms 150

Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary;

praise him in his mighty heavens!

Praise him for his mighty deeds;

praise him according to his excellent greatness!

Praise him with trumpet sound;

praise him with lute and harp!

Praise him with tambourine and dance;

praise him with strings and pipe!

Praise him with sounding cymbals;

praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

The chapter alone tells us to praise the Lord thirteen times throughout six verses. It says let everything that has breath praise the Lord. We have the very breath of God running through our bodies. That alone is to be praised. His breath gave us life, and continues to breath into us everyday. When we think about our lives, when we look at the positions we are in, we start to see that God’s hand is on us. We start to see his glory showering and hovering over our lives. He is worthy of our praise, as His children we are to live to worship Him. We are made to worship. No matter where we are in life there is always something to thank God about, because literally we are nothing without Him. I know this is something we say often but when we put in in perspective, who are we without God? If we removed God completely from the picture, what do we have? We cannot breathe without Him, we cannot walk without HIm, we cannot be a person without Him. We cannot live without Him. The same person that wakes us up in the morning is the same person who puts food on our table, the same person who makes sure that our hearts are beating is the same person who makes sure we are clothed, and warm (He created the source of warmth, the sun). God has His hand in every part of our life. We must praise Him with everything. Because everything we are is because of everything He is.  

Reflection/ Prayer Time

Today, take the time to recognize the greatness of our God. The glorious hand of our Savior. The powerful and merciful God, the alpha and Omega, the Great I AM. Recognize how God’s hand is on your life. Take the time to thank HIm, take the time to talk to God about how much He means to you. Take as much time as you want or need and just rest with God. Spend time with Hmm, whatever that means to you, but take some time to give your full attention to God, and love on Him. God is so great!

I pray that you day and/or evening is amazing. I love you, enjoy yourself, and make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 50!

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!

Day 32: Going Through the Motions

Ask yourself, Why am I a Christian? Why do I serve God? Why did I give my life to Christ?

How many times have we gone to church just because we did not want to feel bad for not going? Or because, that’s how we were raised? How many times have we prayed because we’re christian and that’s what we’re supposed to do. Or read our bibles just to get our time with God “out of the way.” How often to we get set in the routine of being a Christian? Go to church every sunday, bible study once a week, read the bible for at least an hour everyday, pray before we go to sleep to secure that our conscious is clear. Then repeat. I know that I am very guilty of these things. Sometimes we get to a point where we start to serve God out of obligation and nothing else. We feel like doing things for God takes the place of doing things with God or spending time with Him. We go through the motions because we feel like we have no other choice, we feel forced to serve God, so we stick to a routine that we think will please Him. Serving god is so much more than a routine.

Psalms 51:16-17 (MSG)

Going through the motions doesn’t please you,

   a flawless performance is nothing to you.

I learned God-worship

   when my pride was shattered.

Heart-shattered lives ready for love

   don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.

How we look as a Christian means nothing when it’s just a facade, and that’s what going through the motions is. We put on the mask of a Christian, instead of the lifestyle. To cover up what’s really going on inside of us, we do what we think will please God, and what will make us look like a Christian. We go out of our way to prove our commitment to our faith. But are we really committed if it’s just a mask, something we can take on and off as we please? The problem with going through the motions is there is no growth, only stagnation. We stay in one place but we look like we’re moving. We’re doing a lot of 360 turns and ending up right back in the same place, and that’s “good enough” for us, because we’ve learned to imitate growth.   

What’s the use of going to church if we leave the same? Why read a bible if it doesn’t change our hearts, or influence our lifestyle? Why pray if it’s only to show how good of a Christian we are? Why not have a real relationship with God? Why not pour ourselves into Him and give Him all that we are? We are His children, there’s so much more to gain for serving Christ. There’s so much to learn, so much He wants to give us. But we stay at the surface level by just going through the motions. That doesn’t please God, perfection (as if we can attain it) doesn’t please God. What God wants is our hearts, He’s wants our honest selves, a heart that even when it’s broken is willing to worship. It’s in those moments when we choose to go a little deeper than just going to church, or skimming through the passages of the bibles in our laps, that we learn that worship isn’t something we do it’s who we are. When we choose to serve God because we love Him and want to know Him and want to have an intimate relationship with Him, that’s when we stop going through the motions. That’s when surface-level worship halts. When it’s not about an image or looking good, but it’s about being in need of a Savior and wanting one. We all know we need God but when we want Him, that’s when that thirst in us is quenched. We have to want God more than we want air.  

Reflection

1. Take a look at your life, how it is right now. Are you going through the motions?
2. What do you think keeps us at this ‘surface-level’ worship?
3. How can that be changed?
   
   

Prayer Time

Depending on your answers to the previous questions, how might God be speaking to you right now? Talk to him, and listen to what He might be saying to you. Talk to God about whatever resonated with you today. Be honest with Him, and remember that prayer is just a conversation with Him, make sure you listen as well.