Day 332: Loving This World

1 John 2: 15-17

15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

Today we are going to continue with the theme of love. Instead today we talking about loving the world and everything we think it has to offer us.  Verse fifteen starts off by telling us exactly that. When we love the world there is no room in our hearts for God. Too many christians live in this gray area where we think that we can love both God and world. We want the best of both worlds. We must come to the realization that the having the best of the world means having something that is temporary and fleeting and at the end of the day can do nothing for us. But having God, the best of our heavenly father, well when we have that we have the best of everything. There is no gray area there is only black and white, either we love the world or we love God, but we cannot do both. Our heart cannot be two places at once. We make the choice, when we choose to love the world we are choosing a life of limitations. There is only so much the world can do for us. But when we choose to love God, we are choosing eternity, we are choosing everything by making one choice to choose God.

Verse sixteen goes on to talk about the craving for physical pleasure, everything we see and pride in our achievements and possessions. The world is very much about the tangible things, and how successful we are. Most times when we talk about physical pleasure we mention sex, while that is very high on the list it is not the only physical pleasure we seek. We crave this idea of luxury. We take pride in the things we have and our possessions. I cannot tell you how long I led a life that all I wanted was success, I craved it. I was a very prideful person and the more i achieved the bigger my head got. My pride had to be constantly fed, I always needs something or someone to validate me or else I didn’t feel like anything or anyone for that matter. The more I had the more secure I felt, and when I lost it all my security went with it. My confidence (pride) went with it. My identity was gone because I put so much of myself and my life into  my earthly possessions and the things the world had to offer that when it was no longer there, neither was I. That’s when I realized that the world gives and takes away, but God’s blessings are here to stay. There is  nothing the world can give that will give me the security that God has given me. Nothing can compare to what I have in Christ. Although that was a very hard discovery to make, it was beautiful!

All is summed up in verse seventeen. This world is fleeting, everything will one day be gone. If we want something that is permanent, if we want something that is eternal. I suggest giving God a try. We cannot have a solid foundation in anything that is not temporary. God is eternal and as long as we have a solid foundation in Him we have a life that is eternal as well. We just have to make a choice, do we want pleasure for now or eternity with Christ?

Reflection

1. Do you find yourself living in a gray area?

Prayer Time

Allow your answer to the above question guide your prayer. Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led. Have a conversation about what we discussed today, and if you are living in the gray area of life make the decision to love God or the world. It’s up to you.

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 333!

Day 217: Walk With Each Other

Romans 12:10

Love one another with brotherly affection Outdo one another in showing honor

Romans 12:18

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Today’s devo is all about getting along with one another, something that sounds simple but it is so hard. Not that it’s hard to get along with everyone because most times we can get along with everyone but we all have those few people or at least one person that we’d rather not cross paths with, to say the least. I have to be honest, I have been struggling with this subject for the past few days. However as Christians it is important that we live in harmony with one another, that we walk with one another and that we honor and respect one another.

If you are like me, you’re the type of person that only has to be crossed once or twice and then your done with a person. So when I came upon these scriptures I kinda almost had an argument with God. Trying to find a loophole in it all. Like okay God but this person is a jerk, like they’re wrong. Why do I have to deal with their foolishness in my life, why do I have to be the bigger person? Why do I have to try to get along with someone that I know doesn’t like me? Like God the feelings are mutual. I know many of you can relate, but this is something that I have been sincerely struggling with. Something I had to start praying about, God help me with my pride. I found that the reason I was feeling this way was because of my pride. I don’t like feeling disrespected, I don’t like being talked to crazy. And even though all of this may actually be happening, one thing I had to ask God was to help me get over my pride.

It’s not on the other people, the scripture says, “so far as it depends on you” so it is our job to do all that we can to live peaceably with one another. It’s our job, we cannot use someone else as an excuse as to why we cannot do our part to love one another. I know it’s hard, I know sometimes people are hard to get along with, but we must do all that we can to show our love. It’s hard, it’s very hard, but it’s not impossible. And if at the end of the day we’ve done all we can on our part, and the other person still doesn’t come through on their end, at least we did our job. We can still love them. Everyone is not meant to be our best friends or be close to us, but everyone deserves love, rather we like them or not. It is still our job as Christians to love them. Even when we’re angry at one another love is more powerful than that anger. I’m the type of person, and I blame this on Jesus, that no matter how angry I am at someone, no matter what they’ve done, my love is stronger. Love is greater than our own feelings, love is the strongest part of us as human beings. Love overcomes it all.

All this say, do what you can to live in harmony with your brothers and sisters in Christ. This is easy when we have to get along with people we like and the people that make it easy to get along with. We have to love those who make it nearly impossible to love or to like. Jesus did it, He loved us despite our wrongdoings. Do what you can to live in harmony with your brothers and sisters. That is not to say that we should not guard our hearts. Guard your heart. Proverbs 4:23, Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Don’t let your love be tainted because of how someone else treats you. Also don’t let your pride get in the way of you trying to get along with others. Don’t just give up on people, try and do all you can.

Reflection

1. Do you find it hard to get along with certain people? Why?

Prayer Time

Take the time to talk to God about what we discussed today. Talk to Him about pride and helping you to get along with and love your neighbors. Ask Him to help you even when it’s hard. Talk to Him about guarding your heart and finding a good balance.  

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 218!

Day 160: How Do You Respond?

I must admit that our generation is very hot-headed. We have no problem defending ourselves, and others, we also don’t mind speaking up when we don’t like something. This is both a blessing and a curse, we won’t let our voice be silenced but sometimes the best way to fight back is through silence. Our response and reaction to things is very important. We must learn self-control and how to turn the other cheek when we want to respond out of anger or animosity, or even spite.

Matthew  5:38-40

“You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too.

Before moving forward allow me to break the above scripture down. If you’re like me you’ve always had a bit of confusion about this scripture, and if I’m being honest, a hard time obeying it. Am I really supposed to let someone slap me?” “So if someone slaps me once, I have to turn my cheek and let them do it again? Seriously?” These are the questions I asked, when trying to understand this scripture. I wasn’t looking at it from a spiritual or metaphorical standpoint, I was look at it from a natural standpoint. All I knew is, if someone slapped me they had better been prepared to get slapped back. But as I began to read more and get an understanding of the scripture I realized, that same attitude is what the scripture is speaking against. We don’t always have to do to people what they do to us. We don’t always have to get revenge on someone. The next paragraph is a bit lengthy but bare with me, I need you to understand this. Here’s an explanation of the scripture from Watchtower online library, The Bible’s Viewpoint,

“It is noteworthy that in harmony with God’s Law, the “eye for eye” retribution mentioned in those scriptures was properly administered only after an offender had stood trial before the priests and judges who weighed the circumstances and the degree of deliberateness of the offense.—Deuteronomy 19:15-21.

In time the Jews distorted the application of this law. A 19th-century commentary on the Bible by Adam Clarke states: “It seems that the Jews had made this law [eye for eye, tooth for tooth] a ground for authorising private resentments, and all the excesses committed by a vindictive spirit. Revenge was often carried to the utmost extremity, and more evil returned than what had been received.” The Scriptures, however, did not authorize personal vendettas.

Jesus’ teaching in his Sermon on the Mount regarding ‘turning the other cheek’ reflects the true spirit of God’s Law to Israel. Jesus did not mean that if his followers are struck on one side of the face, they should stagger to their feet and offer the other side as a target. In Bible times, as is often true today, a slap was not intended to injure physically but was an insult intended to provoke a reaction, a confrontation.

Evidently, then, Jesus meant that if one person tried to goad another into a confrontation with a literal slap—or with stinging sarcasm—the person slapped should avoid retaliating. Instead, he should attempt to avoid what could become a vicious circle of rendering evil for evil.”

Ephesians 4:26

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

Proverbs 15:1

A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

1 Peter 2:23

When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.

Proverbs 16:32

Better a patient person than a warrior,

one with self-control than one who takes a city.

James 1:19

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

2 Timothy 1:17

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Today we are going to talk about how to respond with respect and gratitude even when we get the opposite. As I stated above, our generation is a bit hot-headed, we do not like the idea of being disrespected and we are very blunt and upfront about our feelings. A few things we must learn to do is: walk away, be slow to anger, and bite that tongue.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, most people who really know me know that I am very sarcastic and I can have a very smart mouth. I’m not one to get angry really quickly, though i used to have a really short temper, but I do have a few triggers that will send me from 0-100 in a matter of seconds. I had to learn to kill my pride and shut my mouth. I had to learn that a soft answer really does turn away wrath. Even when my blood is boiling on the inside of me, I’ve learned to just smile and walk away. I cannot lie and tell you that it’s easy, I still find myself wanting to give a few people what I think they deserve sometimes, but at the end of the day, it’s not worth it.

I know I said previously that silence is sometimes the best answer, but it is so hard to stay silent. Especially in today’s society where it seems like the word respect in part of a lost language. It is so hard to think about Jesus and pray when person number one is in the corner testing you. It’s hard to turn the other cheek when you turned as many times as you could, and you’ve finally had enough. It’s hard to give a soft answer sometimes. It’s hard biting your tongue, some of us bite our tongues until they bleed. Sometimes you just have to respond, sometimes you just have to retaliate. Sometimes you just have to go off on that person. Sometimes you need to blow up and go crazy, and use the excuse that Jesus overturned tables in the temple. Sometimes you just have to do it. Sometimes it’s necessary to just, go there!...

...But do we really have to? That’s the question, is it necessary? Do we have to get out of character and do something that we will end up having to repent for later. Is the moment of pleasure really worth it? The scripture teaching us to be patient, it teaches us self-control, it teaches us to give a soft answer, don’t be so quick to get angry. We don’t always have to respond, we don’t always have to have an answer. Trust me I know it’s tempting, but we cannot fight fire with fire, we cannot fight hate with hate, but we can fight it love. We can fight it with a soft answer. We can choose to turn the other cheek and not retaliate. As christ followers we are called to live like Christ. Jesus received the ultimate amount of disrespect, he was spit on, slapped, punched, betrayed, by one of his own, mocked, pushed down, beat, accused, slandered, everything. Jesus took it, He chose to forgive them, even while they were hanging Him on a cross. He chose to die for the very people that killed Him. He always responded with love, even when He received hate. Jesus is a prime example of how we are to live and how we are to respond to others.

We must learn to control ourselves and our tongue. We do not always have to be right and we do not always have to have the last word. This does not mean that we let people walk all over us and not defend ourselves. What this means is, we have to learn to respond the way Jesus would. Sometimes our soft response can do more than a haughty one. Don’t get out of character or allow yourself to get angry to the point of sin. There is nothing wrong with being angry, it’s a human emotion we can’t avoid it but we can avoid acting on and holding on to it. I know it’s hard and we’re only human, but so was Jesus.  

Response/Prayer Time

Review the scriptures we went over today, think about how you respond to certain people and certain things, it is good or bad? Whatever the answer is, talk to God about it. Have a conversation with 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 161!

Day 138: Is It Worth It?

Mark 8:36

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

Matthew 4:8-11

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God and he only shall you serve.’”

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Is there anything worth giving up our soul for, and if there is, what is it? If you think that there is something worth giving up your soul for, I need you to pay close attention to the scriptures above and what you are about to read.

Jesus was tempted by satan himself, satan was right there with Jesus, as Jesus was in the wilderness where He had been fasting for forty days and forty nights. Satan goes to Jesus, and shows Him all the kingdoms and said he will give it to Him. All Jesus had to do was bow down and worship Him. Okay, first of all, satan, I know you’re lying because you cannot give something to someone first that’s not yours, and second, that’s already theirs. Jesus is the King of all the earth, there was nothing satan could give Him that He did not already have.

Jesus had everything, He walked this earth a perfect man, He is a king, He was the one the Israelites had been waiting on for centuries. He sat in heaven on a throne at the right hand of the father. He gave it all up to save our souls, He gave up his throne for a cross. He gave up His life, as a perfect man, to take on the sin of humanity. He did this in order to save our soul. If He was willing to give up everything to save our soul, can we not be so quick to give it up.

Satan makes promises of blessings and if we are not careful we will end up falling for them. We are sometimes so gullible to the attacks or plans of the enemy that we do not see that we are giving our souls up, for our own selfish desires. We live in a world where it is all about what we have, and who we are. We live in a status motivated generation. What are we willing to give up to get that status. I have seen too many people compromise themselves and their beliefs in order to get a taste of what they think is a success. Only to have it snatched from them before they can have a full bite. It is not worth it. Nothing is worth giving up our soul, nothing is worth letting go of who we are. It will only end in destruction. I know from experience.

We can have everything in the world but if we lose our soul what do we really have. Nothing on this earth can replace our soul, nothing can take the place of who we are. I want to emphasize that our souls cannot be replaced. They might be lost, but Jesus came so that they will be found. He went through so much to restore our souls, our hearts, our faith, we cannot give that up.

Our soul is the very essence of who we are, it’s our heart, it’s everything that makes us, us. If we lose that what do we have? Who are we?  

We give our hearts to Christ because He has made us who we are, He has cleansed our souls and made us into the people we are meant to be. Is there anything worth giving that up?

Response/ Prayer Time

Take the time to think about and answer all the questions proposed in today's devotional. Ask yourself, “Is it really worth it?” Only you know what ‘it’ is. What 'it' may be, is it worth your soul? Talk to God about your response, whatever is on your heart today. Have a conversation with Him.

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 139!

Day 136: Independent or Full of Pride

Proverbs 29:23

A man’s pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor.

2 Chronicles 26:16

His pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God.

Today I want to talk about the thin line between being independent and full of pride. As we are going into our adult years, learning to navigate through life and learning to provide and take care of our ourselves, the one thing we seek or want is independence. We want to be able to stand on our own two feet and be an adult. But sometimes, in lieu of that, we tend to get a bit prideful when it comes to being independent. We are too prideful to ask or receive help when it’s needed or offered. We want to do everything on our own so we can get credit for being independent, and we sometimes boast about it.

I remember moving out when I was eighteen. I wanted to be on my own. I wanted to brag about how I was eighteen, working, going to school, paying my own rent and bills. I was, for the most part, but my sole reason for wanting to be independent was so that I could brag about how good I was doing on my own. I had something to prove to the many people who doubted me. I remember talking to my roommate who was four years older than me, and very bad for me. A particular instance I remember was that we were in need of a microwave and someone was willing to buy us a brand new one. And her words to me were, “Don’t accept anything from anyone, we can handle this on our own. We don’t need their charity.” I was a different person back then so I listened to her. As I got older I remembered that situation and simply said to myself, “We might not need their charity but we do need a microwave and they are willing to give it to us.”

-Dyamond

I say this to say, just because we are independent does not mean that we will not need help, or that we have to decline when people are willing to help us. Everyone can use a hand, I don't care who you are or who you think you are, everybody needs somebody. We get in the mindset of saying, “God will provide.” God is sending people left and right but we choose not to take the help because we think God is going to knock on our door with a brand new microwave. He sends people, He blesses us through other people but if we are too prideful to see that then we will miss everything God has for us.

Another huge part of being independent is being able to be on our own, to take care of ourselves, to remind people that we are successful by ourselves, that no one helped us get to where we are. Alright, let’s stop right there, that’s a lie, everyone has had to stand on the shoulders of at least one person to get to where they are. No one reaches success alone. No one is self-made. God made man be in fellowship and communion with one another. We are here to serve and help our brothers and sisters. But sometimes, we mistake independence for isolation so that we can stand out in a crowd. We stand alone. When we stand alone we get the title of being an independent person, and the mindset that it’s lonely at the top. It’s not lonely we just decided to isolate ourselves from everyone else. Everyone is so focused on standing out and being different, that ironically, that is what makes you just like everyone else. We all want to tell the story of how we never needed anyone to depend on. How we are responsible for own our success, and how it’s so lonely at the top. That my friend is called pride and it brings you down quicker than anything can. Our pride will cause us to fall and fall hard. We entertain or glorify this idea of being alone at the top so we can take all the credit for getting there. There are so many people we had to stand on and step on to get to where we are.

If we really want to be independent we will put our pride aside and know that independence is not all about self. It is not about being able to brag and boast about how well we do on our own. Yes, we must learn how to stand on our own two feet and take care of ourselves. But we must notice when pride is taking the place of independence in our lives.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to examine yourself today and your motives. Are you seeking independence to feed your pride? Whatever the answer may be talk to God about, pray that He shows you the difference between pride and independence.

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.