Day 319: So Will I

Psalms 150:6

Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!Praise the Lord!

Psalms 69:34

Praise him, O heaven and earth,

the seas and all that move in them.

Todays devo is inspired by a beautiful song by Hillsong United called ‘So Will I’ and before I go into detail I want you to read the lyrics of this song that are so beautifully crafted.

And as You speak

A hundred billion galaxies are born

In the vapor of Your breath the planets form

If the stars were made to worship so will I

I can see Your heart in everything You’ve made

Every burning star

A signal fire of grace

If creation sings Your praises so will I

...I can see Your heart in everything You say

Every painted sky

A canvas of Your grace

If creation still obeys You so will I

If the stars were made to worship so will I

If the mountains bow in reverence so will I

If the oceans roar Your greatness so will I

For if everything exists to lift You high so will I

If the wind goes where You send it so will I

If the rocks cry out in silence so will I

If the sum of all our praises still falls shy

Then we’ll sing again a hundred billion times

And as You speak

A hundred billion failures disappear

Where You lost Your life so I could find it here

If You left the grave behind You so will I

I can see Your heart in everything You’ve done

Every part designed in a work of art called love

If You gladly chose surrender so will I

I can see Your heart

Eight billion different ways

Every precious one

A child You died to save

If You gave Your life to love them so will I.

I know it’s a lot but there is so much depth to these words. There is the idea that whatever Christ does I will also do. But also, if creation sings your praises, if these inanimate objects sing your praises, so will I. How much more can I sing your praises than a rock? I love that the song says that we can see the heart of God in everything He says, everything He made, everything He done, and finally we can see His heart a billion different ways. How amazing is that? Everything reveals a bit more about who God is, it tells us a little more about His love for creation and humanity.

Everything is a testament of who God. All creation reveals His presence, creation reveals who God is.

Psalms 19:1-4

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.

The most compelling thing about this scripture is that it says that the heavens proclaim the glory of God, the skies are a display of His craftsmanship. All creation proclaims the glory of God. The sun, the moon, the stars they all declare the glory of God day in and day out. They do it without ever saying a word or making a sound. The sun rises and sets everyday without fail, doing what God has created it to do. The moon rises as the sunsets, to give light to the night sky, as well as the stars, doing what it was created to do. That is how they bring glory to God. Creation is constantly in tune with it’s creator, God. Creation is constantly obeying God, by doing exactly what it was created to do. Everything in creation is constantly glorifying. So if creation glorifies and praises God without making a sound how much more can we do with our voices. How much more can we do with our hearts, and with our minds. This song is a declaration to God, saying if creation praises you, so will I. If creation can obey you, so will I.

The song goes on to say, “If you left the grave behind you, so will I...If you gladly chose surrender so will I.”

These are such bold statements, because it’s something that we as christians talk about this all the time. This is what Jesus did and we can do it too. In this song it changes from what we can do and what we will do, we make a choice to turn away from a life that will lead us to an eternal grave and we choose to follow Christ. We choose to surrender our lives to Him We make the decision that following God is definitely for us. If this life is good enough for you, a king, it’s good enough for me.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led. Let that response guide your prayer today. Have a conversation with God, allow Him to lead 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 320!

Day 181: Don't Trade Your Integrity

Integrity -  adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

And integrity according to oxford dictionary means

-The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.

Proverbs 11:3

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

As you’ve probably concluded by now, to day we are talking about integrity. So let’s start this off with a question;

Is whatever you want worth trading your integrity for?

Now I will answer that question. No. No it’s not, it is definitely not worth it. You know it, I know it, everybody knows it. Nothing should be worth throwing away your morals and beliefs, we have to stand for something. We have to hold on to something. The scripture says, the integrity of the upright guides them, now if we give that up we will not have any guidance. We all have a set of beliefs whether we are Christian or not, we all have something we believe in that we are not willing to give up. We are not willing to sacrifice or put on the line for anything or anyone. For many of us reading this devotional, that thing is our relationship with God. For me it is exactly that, there are many things I’m willing compromise on, one of those things is not my relationship with God, it’s not my morals. I live by my own morals and it makes me who I am, they influence the choices I make and where I go in my life. I am not willing to give that up or sacrifice it for anything. As an actor this is a subject that comes up for me a lot, whether I’m talking to my friends about it or checking myself on it. I love acting with every part of me, there’s is nothing else I see myself doing, I’ve been acting my whole life. However there are things more important to me than acting. As much as I love what I do, I love God more, I love my family more. I believe that’s what makes me a better actor is that, yes this is very high on my list of priorities, but it’s great to know that something in my life is higher. There will always be a reason as to why I act. I refuse to trade my integrity for acting, because I stand for something bigger and that allows me to be a better artist.

One of the shows I recently binge-watched is, ‘Jane the Virgin’, a show centered around a young woman, Jane (the amazing Gina Rodriguez), who has made a vow not to have sex until she is married. Many of us in the church have taken this vow and knows what it’s like. However, there are times throughout the show when she decides she’s just gonna do it, and every time something comes in the way of it, even on her wedding night. But when she has sex for the first she is married, and later on she talks about how happy she is that she waited until she was married.

Now I’m not here to talk about sex, and waiting for marriage. I wanted to use that as an example that holding on to your integrity and your beliefs is so worth it in the end. There is nothing more rewarding than standing for what you believe in. I know we all want so much out of our lives, and we all want to get to “that place”. Whatever that “that place” is for you, you know what I’m talking about, it’s different for everyone. What I’m saying is, getting to the top doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice or trade in your integrity, just to get there a bit quicker. We can do that to get to where we are going quick but as fast as we go up we’ll come down even quicker. There is something beautiful about holding on to your beliefs, even if it means it takes a bit longer, and it’s a little harder. But you know that once you get there, wherever ‘there’ is, once you’re there, you’ll know that you didn’t have to trade anything or compromise at any point. God works in mysterious ways and He shows favor to His people. Hold on to that, you’d be surprised at what He does in your life. He is looking for people who will remain committed to Him, even when fighting temptation feels like pulling a ton of bricks. Hold on to your faith, hold on to your morals, hold on to your integrity because it will be so rewarding in the long run.

This can be with anything, of course our relationship with God comes first, but after that whatever personal morals or vows you’ve made to yourself. Don’t trade them in. Stick it out, it’ll be so worth the wait.

Reflection

1. What are some of the beliefs and morals you hold dear?
2. Are you willing to sacrifice them?
3. Based on your answer to the above question, why or why not?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about holding on to your integrity and standing firm on your beliefs. Have a conversation Him.

I love you so much and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 182!

Day 151: The Value of God's Word

Psalms 119:72

The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces

Psalms 119:105

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalms 119:127

Therefore I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold.

Psalms 119:130

The unfolding of your word gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.

Psalms 119:160

The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.

Psalms 119:165

Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.

Psalms 119:103-104

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.

I wish I could just copy all of Psalms 119 and leave it there, but it’s very long and I won’t do that to you. But it is so profound, the person writing this psalms values the word of God and longs to live in it.

Throughout the Psalms you read statements like:

“According to your word”

“Teach me…”

“Lead me…”

“Give me…”

“Incline my heart.”

“Turn my eyes”

“For I trust in your word”

“Meditate on your statutes”

“I promise to keep your words”

“Teach me your statutes”

“I hope in your word”

“All your commandments are true”

The word of God holds so much value, and I believe the author of this Psalm knew that they knew that God’s word is the most valuable thing on this earth. It sustains us, it gives us life, and it shows us how to live. God has given us His word to live by and lean on and to learn how to live. God’s word is so powerful and we know this from the beginning of time. He literally spoke everything into existence.  

There are many creation accounts from different religions, but the Bible has the only account where a God (Our God) speaks things into existence. He spoke the light and the water, the animals, the sea, land, everything was made by the word of God. The only thing made in God’s image was man, He created man in His image. In the New Testament Jesus’ spoke healing, it was by His word that people were healed and forgiven of sin.

One thing I’ve learned from reading Psalm 119 is that there is so much value in the word of God, It is so important to live by the word of God and stand firm on His promises but when we choose to see the value of it and the need for it. We must choose to live for Christ and obey His word.

Creation hasn’t moved since he spoke it into existence

Response/Reflection

There is so much I can say, but I would rather you read it. While reading this passage, I learned so much and had a revelation about the value of God’s word. Today’s devo is a response to what I read. So for today’s reflection I want you to take the time and read Psalms 119 and respond. Then take the time to pray about what you learned.

Day 129: If It Had Not Been for the Lord

Where would we be if it was not for the Lord on our side? Where would we be if it was not for Him? Who would we be?

Psalms 94:16-19, 22

Who rises up for me against the wicked?  Who stands up for me against evildoers? If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.

Psalms 94:22

But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.

Today is more about response and reflection than anything.

I’m pretty sure we have all testified to the words, “If it had not been for the Lord…”

We each have a different testimony but there is no doubt that each and every one of us can say that we would not be where we are if it had not been for the Lord. God is the one person that has always been there for us no matter where we go or where we have been God is always there to make sure that we are okay. He always pulls us out of our mess, and makes sure that we are in His will. Even when we slip God is there to pull us back from our valleys. God gives us everything we need even when we do not realize it. He has been there for us from the very beginning. God has been working in our lives from the very start. Our lives would not look as they do if God had not molded and shaped us into the people He created us to be.

When we look back over our lives and when we see where we came from we will see that God has had His hand on us all along.

When I look at the person I was and who I could have been as opposed to who I am, I can do nothing but praise God. He lifted me out of the hands of death, He saved me from myself and my enemies. God has been there for me, fighting on my behalf. If it was not for Him I would not be here. God made me into a person I never thought I'd be, taken me places I never thought I'd go, and that is because I submitted my life to Him, and allowed Him to change me according to His will. Had I not done that I probably would be dead. If I never gave my life to God, if I never turned my life and heart over to Him, my own troubles, problems, and issues would have killed me. So I thank God every chance I get because He saved my life, and continues to save me every day. He continues to work on me and mold me and shape me to look more and more like Him every day. I would not be here without Him, I would not be writing these words without Him. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus,, for who you are. You are a mighty conqueror who conquered all my demons and made me into a woman of God. thank you, Lord.

-Dyamond

We can never over exaggerate when we say this because God has done more for us that we know and more that we realize. God is our refuge in time of trouble, our shoulder when we cry, our healing when we are sick and hurt. God is everything to us, where would we be without Him?

Reflection/Prayer Time

Think about where you would be without the Lord? Take the time to reflect on your life and where you would be without God. Think about how far He has brought you. Take the time to thank Him and honor Him for all He has done.

Day 124: No One Compares

Psalms 89:6-7

For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord? What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord? The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God. He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne.

It is safe to say that there is no one who can compare to God, no one on heaven or earth. There’s no one who can get to the level of competing with God because no one is near comparison with Him. No one is heaven and no one on earth can compare to who God is. The scriptures say the highest angelic powers stand in awe of Him. There is no one nowhere like Him, God just is. He is the only person in the universe who can do the things He does. God is the only being who exist outside of time, no one else can say that about themselves. That is why eternity is in His hands because He was before anything else, including time. That is mind blowing.

I just have a couple of questions seeing that we know that there is nobody or nothing that compares to God. Why do we act like there are things that can compare to the goodness of God? What I mean by that is sometimes we use God as a last resort like He couldn’t give us what we needed had we gone to Him first. Sometimes we allow our circumstances to change how we view God, and that is a very human thing to do, but can we try putting our faith in God first. We have to learn to trust Him first not when we are all out of options. God should always be the one we go to first. It is better to put our faith in God while floating in a sea of opportunity than to wait until we have hit rock bottom. There are multiple reasons why we say no one compares to God, every person can name at least three reasons if not more.We make these blanket statements all the time but when all's said and done and everything is on the line do we really believe it? What I mean by that is, why do we put things in the place of God if no one compares to Him. Why do we look for validation in so many places when God is standing right there? I can speak for myself and say that sometimes I act like God is not enough, sometimes I act like there are things and people who are better than God, who can help me more. Because sometimes, and I’m being honest, I don’t want to pray or read my bible I’d rather talk to my friends who will be there physically. And every time I come out realizing that I should have gone to God first, I took a detour when there was no reason to. We have to realize the magnitude of this statement when we say so, no one compares. It’s like saying no one compares to Whitney Houston’s singing, or Muhammad Ali’s boxing, or Viola Davis’s acting. When we make those statements we are initially saying that they are untouchable in their field they are so great that there is no one that is could be equal to them.  

That is exactly what we mean when we say that there is no one who compares to God, not even the highest king in all the universe, not even the pope compares to God. No one, there is no one that can be equal to such a great being.

There is no one love that compares to God, no grace that compares. There is no one quite like God.

As Christians, we live to push to live our lives like Christ and love like God, and as close as we get to it, we don’t even compare. That is why He is God, we will never surpass who He is, which is why we are forever serving Him.

Reflection/ Response

When you think about today’s topic and scripture what is your initial response? Take the time to reread the passage and scripture and respond.

Prayer Time

Allow your response to guide your prayer, talk to God about whatever stood out to you, ask Him or larity and understanding. Have a conversation with Him.     

Day 116: Living Far From God

Matthew 15:8, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”

I grew up hearing these scriptures. I was always told, either you’re in or out, there’s no straddling the fence. Choose who you want to serve. It’s like when I was younger, and my siblings and cousins and I were always playing outside. We all tended to run in and out of the house all day, and it seemed like a lot because there were a lot of us. At some point or another throughout the day multiple adults would tell us to stop running in and out of the house. After not listening, someone’s mother (usually mine), or our grandmother would say, “Hey! Stop running in and out of this house! Either you stay in or out, make a choice.” Not wanting to come inside we would choose to stay outside.

The problem with this story and what upset the adults is that we kept running in and out, every five minutes a little kid was running through the house, then we would run right back outside. We couldn’t decide if we wanted to be apart of what was going on inside or play outside. How often do we do this to God, we are constantly in and out when it comes to having a relationship with Him. We are in when we really need Him, but out when we’ve gotten everything we need. We have to choose if we are going to be near God, or will we stray far from Him.

The heart doesn’t always agree with the lips.

I think it is safe to say that we have all said things that we do not really mean. We have used our words to cover up how we really feel. Our lips say one thing but our hearts say another. We’ve all lied to our mom or aunt before and told them something they cooked was good, even when it was horrid. I will use myself for an example, there was a time when I was telling everyone about how good God was and reading my bible constantly, and even preaching, but my life and my heart said something completely different. I honored God with my words but my heart was so far from it. (I am beyond grateful for grace and mercy, and that Jesus didn’t strike me down in my mess). We can all talk, as long as we have lips and a working voice box, but do our actions line up with our words? I could read the bible all day long, but if I am reading it just to show and people how good a Christian I am, is it even worth it? I can memorize every scripture back and forth but until I allow it into my heart and start living it, does it really matter how many scriptures I can quote? And I did, I did all of this, I memorized scriptures, read the entire bible, but in the end it was only to look like a better Christian, not actually be a better or different person. We have so many people who go to church and live so far away from God. Being a Christian is not a Sunday only thing, it is every day of our lives. It is more than saying, “I’m Christian.” or raising our hands during worship in church. We do not have to go around saying we are Christ followers, because our lives will speak for us. It is very true that actions speak louder than words. We cannot say we serve God, when we are living any type of way. We cannot claim to love and serve God when our hearts are far from Him. One thing about the heart is that it doesn’t lie, and eventually our hearts will show. We cannot avoid it or get around it. The question is, when your heart shows who you truly are, will you be embarrassed or ashamed of what comes to light? Or will you be happy to show your heart?

Hosea 6:6, I want you to show love,not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.

God wants us to show love over sacrifices. Seeing that this is a passage from the old testament, He is referring to the daily sacrifices and offerings of the israelites. But God says, I’d rather you show love, I’d rather you know me. A lot of times we think that what we do is pleasing to God. We think the amount of money we give, is enough. We think giving food to a homeless person is enough, or doing ‘good deed’ is enough. While those are all good, God says, I would rather have your heart, I would rather you know me. Some of us have or are walking around, serving in the church, without even knowing God, because we think our sacrifices of showing up early to church to volunteer is enough. But there is so much more, it goes deeper than just doing things just to do them. When we submit ourselves to God, every part of our life becomes a service to Him. We know God more and more everyday, we start to love like Him. And God is like, “I want that.” He wants that love, He wants us to truly know Him. He will take that anyday over our empty words that claim to praise Him.

Psalms 73:26-28, my flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

The scripture says that those who are far from God will perish. We as the body of Christ are on a constant search to bring these perishing souls to Christ. Sometimes we have to stop and take a look in the places where the Christians are, there are souls perishing from the pughs they sit in every Sunday. Asaph (writer of this psalm) then goes on to say, “It is good for me to be near God.” When we get a taste of what life is like to be near God, that’s where we want to be. We know it is safe to be in that place, near God is the best place to be. But we must make the choice to draw closer to Him. Serving God is so much more than just talking about Jesus, it’s living like Him, it’s allowing our words to match our actions. We cannot serve God and live far away from Him. It won’t work.

Reflection

1. Does your heart agree with your lips?
2. Would you say you are living near or far from God?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today .Whatever stood out to you or struck you, talk to God about it. Maybe you are living far away from God, today is the day to draw near to Him. Maybe you know someone who is living far from God, lift them up in prayer today. Lift up the church and the body of Christ today that we will all be fully devoted to Christ every day of our lives.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Make sure you share this and come back tomorrow for Day 117!

Day 106: Running Away

Psalms 55:6-8

And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; yes, I would wander far away: I would lodge in the wilderness: I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and the tempest.

Have you ever just wanted to runaway? Pack up everything and go, or pack nothing and go? Life gets you down sometimes, and it gets so confusing to the point where you just want to escape and start a whole new life. That’s what David is saying here, he says it in a very beautiful and poetic way, but he’s ready to run away. We’ve been talking about David a lot lately, and his psalms. David has just about had it with everything in this psalm and many others, and he basically says, if I could just run away and escape this life I would do it.

I think many of us have been in David’s position before, especially those of us in our early twenties, and even mid and late twenties. We go through times in our lives where we just want to simplify, we want everything to be simple and easy again. Life can be so complicated, confusing, and demanding at times that we don’t know what to do or where to go. It’s doesn’t have to be something tragic, or depressing. It could be a change in our lives, that triggers the desire to escape. It could be figuring out what you’re going to do after college, or what you’re going to do with your life in general. There are many thing that would be so much easier if we could avoid going through them, but we have to. I know it would be easier to run away, but we have to face these things head on if we want to move forward. As we approach the years of becoming independent and responsible adults, things get a bit cloudy. It's a great thing we have God to help us through all the craziness life will throw at us.

I remember being twenty two, a couple of years ago, and my nephew had just been born. My sister and I turned 22 five days after he was born. I started rethinking everything, trying to figure out what I really wanted out of life. My sister seemed to be moving forward in her life, and my younger brother. It seemed like everyone was moving forward but me. I thought maybe I need to just leave, get up and go, start a new life, because this one isn't working. There's something about the age 22, that makes you really start thinking about what your life will look like, and how you want it to be. I started to put a lot of things in perspective at twenty two. It could’ve been because the birth of my nephew had such a huge impact on me. I think that definitely played a role, but things in my life started to look and feel different. At the time I was taking a gap year, which I didn’t know would be a gap year until I decided to go back to school about four months later. However, I had dropped out of my other school, where I was studying theology and starting acting again, and I was trying to figure out where my life was going. I would always tell my mom and sister that I just wanted to buy a volkswagen bus, turn it into a house on wheels and travel the country with my guitar, camera, and notebook.  I just wanted to get away, and have a simple life, where there were no worries or problems. And I was serious, I was dead serious. People would laugh when I said that but I think only my mom and sister knew how serious I was. I would have given up everything to do something like that. Until one day I was talking with my mom, and she said, “You’re not trying to start a life, you’re trying to run away from the one you have?😳 She said you need to face whatever it is you're trying to run away from, 😓😰 And she was beyond right, I wanted to get the weight and pressure of living off of me. I was going through so much at the time an I just wanted to escape everything. I wanted this simple life, where I did not have to worry about anything. I wouldn’t have to worry about rejection or pain, I would just go everyday carefree, living. I soon found out that escaping the problems, fears, or struggles wouldn’t help. Running away would not make anything better because one day I would have to return and deal with it.

-Dyamond

Running away will do nothing for us, packing up and leaving will only work if we are running to something, not away from it. We’ve seen it portrayed by Hollywood so many times. Someone leaves their old life, in search of something new and better, and by the end of the movie they are confronted with the very thing they are tried to get away from.

Psalms 31:1

I run to you, God; I run for dear life. Don’t let me down! Take me seriously this time!(MSG)

One thing we must realize is that these moments are opportunities for growth. These are the times when we put our faith and trust in God and follow His direction. When we want to runaway, we should run straight into the arms of God. If we want to run anywhere we can run to God. He will provide us with a way to get through whatever it is we may be going through. He will walk with us, and make sure that we are okay. He will see us through. God has us in the palm of His hand, and when we run to Him we will forever have someone to walk us through this life. Run to God, before running away, and you will see His hands on your life.

Reflection

1. Have you ever want to pack up  and leave everything?
2. Are you running away from something right now?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. If you are currently running away from something, turn and run to GOd. He has everything you need. Whatever is on your heart right now our it out to 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 107!