Day 357: Recap!

Merry Christmas Eve!

This week consisted of two series. The Life is Funny Series and the That's Life Series. We talked a lot about life this week, how it is unpredictable and how it is more that just a struggle and ultimately the kind of life we want to lead. So instead of doing a normal recap today I have an assignment for you all, instructions if you will. Take the time to go over what we discussed this week, just a bit of a review, if something spoke to you specifically, go back to that day and reflect on it.

1. Make a list of all the things you want to do with your life. Goals, dreams, aspirations, plans, everything.
2. Highlight all the parts of your life you want God to work on.
3. What is your perspective on life? How do you perceive things? How does your perception of life affect how you live?
4. How do you want you live your life in a way that will serve God and His people?
5. Make a vision board or start making one, you don't have to finish it today,  to have if ready by new year. On this vision board will be what you want it to be, how you visualize your life going in 2018. What do you want out of life? What do you expect God to do in your life?
*Keep a loose grips on your plans because God might change them.*
6. Make a promise to live the life god has destined for you, not for anyone else.

Take the time pray on all these things. Take the time and ask God for direction and 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 358!

Day 43: I Chose You

Sometimes as Christians we feel unworthy of the task God has chosen us to do. We can’t believe that He would give us this specific task. Out of everyone else that He could have chosen He decided to chose us. It’s mind blowing, i know! Due to this disbelief, more times than not we  underestimate ourselves, we unconsciously imply that God is mistaken by choosing us. He must have the wrong person. but God is like, no ‘I want you, I know you. I chose you’.  We try to talk our way out of it, or try to convince God that we are the right person for the job and even try to assign it to someone else. But God knows what we are capable of, He knows what we're good at, He gave us the skills and gifts we have. I think it’s hard to wrap our mind around the fact that out of the seven billion plus people in the world,  He chose us. But God is standing there saying to us, “I choose you.”

This brings me to the story of Moses and the burning bush.

Exodus 3:9-11, 4:1, 10-13 (Expanded passage, Exodus 3-4:17)

9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” …  

4:1 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’...

10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” 13 But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”

In this passage, God comes to Moses through a burning bush, the bush is on fire but it is never consumed by the fire. He tells Moses, you’re the one I’m going to send to deliver my people out of Egypt. Moses start to humbly decline, and comes up with all the excuses he could probably find, but God has an answer for them all. Moses says, they will want to know the name of the person who sent me. God is like, ‘tell them I Am has sent you. Then He says they will not believe me, so God performs miracles right there for Moses, with the staff, and then says, ‘if they don’t believe you even after that, take some water from the Nile and pour it on dry ground, and the water will be turned to blood. Moses responds by saying, ‘I’m not good at speaking, I have a stutter.’ And God is all, ‘I made your mouth, I gave you a tongue and speech, now go.” And Moses finally gets down to, ‘please just send someone else’ he says. It says at this points God’s anger was kindled against Moses. And God sent Aaron as Moses mouthpiece, no matter how many excuses Moses came up with God foiled them all. Somebody was going to bring those people out of Egypt and that somebody was going to be Moses. No matter what, God’s plan will always prevail.

I feel like many times we are like Moses, ‘but what if this or that…’ ‘I’m not qualified enough’ ‘So and so would be better for the job’ Even though God is showing us all the ways He will equip us to carry out His plan, somehow someway we still find an excuse not to do it. Is it our fear, is it that we feel unworthy, or that we will mess it up. I think it is a mixture of all three of these things, we fear that we will fail, we don’t feel like we are right or worthy enough, or we’re afraid that we will mess everything up completely and fold.. Ultimately our fear is failure, we do not want to let God down. But the thing about that is, God chose us for a reason, He knows that we are able to complete the task set ahead of us, because He is God. He created us, He knows what we can do, and how far we can go. The question is, Do we know? The only way we will let God down is by disobeying Him, if we choose to ignore the task, or ignore the calling we not only let God down but we let ourselves down. But when we decide to pick up that heavy cross and bear it, that is when we are in the will of God. One of God’s response to Moses was, “But I will be with you... “ (Exodus 3:12). God is not going to leave us alone, He will be there with us every step of the way. He doesn’t give us assignment, leave and come back to correct and judge when it’s all over, he’s not a high school teacher. He’s there along the way, showing us, and teaching us, and strengthening us. He’s right there walking with us.

We must know that in the eyes of God we are worthy, we are so much more than what we think we are. Knowing your worth doesn’t take away from your humility. It shows that we know our God, we know who God has created us to be. We are worthy enough to him for Him to look at us, point us out and say, “I choose you.”

Another great example of latching on to the call of God is in the New Testament. Jesus chose each disciple one by one, none of them hesitated to follow HIm. In fact they dropped everything to follow Christ, and in the end were greatly rewarded for it.

Mark 1:16-20

Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.  And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Luke 5:4-11

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”  For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

God makes no mistakes, He never slips up and calls the wrong person. He knows exactly who we are and what He wants us to do, He knows us personally, better than anyone ever could. God has a different plan for us all and He has chosen us for a task that He has designed specifically for us. We were all created with a purpose, know that God is not a God of error. When we He chooses us for something we have to get up and do it. There is no excuse that God does not have an answer for. He knows that we can do it, we just have to know that we are both capable and worthy. The only way we can let God down is by ignoring His call, respond and act on it.

Reflection

1. Do you feel you are worthy enough to be chosen by God? Why or why not?
2. How have you responded to the call of God? Do you try to get out of it, are you unsure of why He chose you?
3. God knows what you are capable of, do you?

Prayer Time

Reread the scriptures we spoke about today, and if you want read the expanded passages. Allow your answers to the questions above shape your prayer today. Ask God to help you see that you are worthy in His eyes. Knowing that God makes no mistakes, be confident in the life He has give you, and the task He has chosen you for.

Have an AWESOME day or evening, I love you! Share this with a friend and make sure you come back tomorrow for day 44!

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.

Day 14:God's Love

1 John 4:8

God is love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away

We cannot know what true love is until we know God, because God is love. Without God we do not have the capacity or ability to love correctly. Once we get to know Christ and understand His love we will realize that love is the one thing that will never fail. God’s love never fails. I know this can be hard to believe at times. In our early twenties most of us have had our hearts broken a couple of times by now, and it feel like the worst thing ever. It’s terrible, but God loves us right through the pain He picks up the pieces and put our hearts back together again. God doesn’t break hearts, He repairs them.

Thinking about how much God loves us brings me so much joy. I love knowing that at every moment of my life for all eternity I can turn to God because He is the one person who will love me through any and everything. He loves me through my rebellion, my sin, my pain, my happiest moments, my lowest moments. He loves me in whatever state I am in and I find so much peace in that, so much joy. I did not understand what it meant to be loved unconditionally until I experienced God's love. I'm hit by a wave of emotion whenever I think about it and I just have to tell people, that God's love is greatest, there is no greater love than His.

-Dyamond

Throughout the entire bible God’s love and compassion for His people is not only talked about but experienced by the people over and over again. It never stops, it’s continuous, nowhere in the bible does it say that God ever stops loving His people.

By far one of the greatest examples of God’s love is Jesus Christ. God didn’t want to be separated from us, and sin caused that separation. He loves us so much that He cannot help himself. He went through drastic measures, very drastic, just so we can be reunited with Him and have a relationship with Him. So that we can love Him, be loved by Him, and love others.

John 3:16 (the scripture we started learning at 2)

For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

This scripture alone shows just how much God loves us, but it’s not this only scripture. The entire Bible is like sixty-six book love letter from God to us, his people.

But let’s go through the steps. We all know that the fall separated us from God. Adam and Eve decided to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree and ruined everything for all humanity. 😜Throughout the Old Testament we see the people falling from God and God having compassion on them and forgiving them. The Israelites in the wilderness, it took them 40 years to get to the promised land because they kept turning on God. We see how sin separated the people from God daily.

Fast forward to the New Testament when God sends Jesus. Here’s where it gets drastic, God chose a virgin woman, Mary, to carry the Messiah. A VIRGIN!!! TO CARRY A BABY! The Holy Spirit comes upon her, and a child is conceived in her womb. Mary was due to be married to Joseph, who knew for sure that the baby wasn’t his. But an angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him that the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit. When it was time for Jesus to be born, he was born in a manger, a dusty dirty manger. Not only that, but in Nazareth. Nazareth was where all the thugs were, this place did not have a good name, back then that was probably the worst place to live, but the greatest man to walk ever this earth (past, present, and future) came from there. They had to flee because King Herod was trying to kill Him. He wasn't even a full toddler before people were coming for His life. Fast forward thirty three years, Jesus, who was a carpenter before He started his ministry, would become the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. He would die the worst and most painful death known to man. He would have thorns stuck in His head, be beat all night, his skin would be ripped from his bones. He would be mocked and spat on, punched in the face, by the very people He was there to save. He would have nails hammered through His hands and feet, and sphere stuck in His side. He would die on a wooden cross between a thief and a murderer. He would take on our sin, and carry it to the grave. Jesus became sin and died so that we wouldn't have to. God would have to turn His back on His own son because God is a spirit and he cannot dwell in the same place as sin.  Jesus would be buried in  Joseph’s tomb and stay there for three days. But the best part is that HE ROSE AGAIN, and He lives today. He was dead, for three days, and He was resurrected. He conquered, death, sin, and the grave!!!

God did all of this because He loves us. Jesus gave up His life because He loves us. He could have come down off that cross when people were mocking and ridiculing Him, but love kept Him there. Our need for salvation, and God's desire to be close to us kept Him there.

That’s true love, God’s love is bigger than our sin, it’s bigger than our flaws, bigger than our mistakes, it’s bigger than us. But one thing is for sure is that we can always turn to God’s love. It’s not going anywhere, and I know that we can find peace and security in knowing just how much He loves us.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Use today to rest in God’s love. Go over the scriptures, and stories spoken about today and rest in the love of God. Fall inlove with Him all over again. Go through today knowing that no matter where you are in your life, or what you’ve done, where you’re from. God loves you, I cannot stress that enough. Every day of every hour, every second of the day God spends it loving us. Rest in that.

Day 13: Comparison

Day 13: Comparison

“Comparison is the thief of joy.”

-Theodore Roosevelt

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, compare is a transitive verb that means, to examine the character or qualities of especially in order to discover resemblances or differences : to view in relation to.

As young adults this is something we struggle with so much. It is so hard not compare yourself to others, but it’s even harder when other people compare you. We see qualities in others, that we want. As we go through our twenties we are figuring life out, we are on a search to find ourselves. But we are  all moving at different paces. Some of us have already gotten the majority of our life together, some of us are still picking up the pieces to puzzle it together, and some of us are somewhere in between. As we continue to grow and we see others moving faster than us, we start to compare our lives to the people around us. We want our lives to look similar to someone else’s because we see the benefit. We see what they have reaped. We don’t always see what they sow. Sometimes we can be so focused on someone  else, and trying to imitate their life or lifestyle, that we forget we have a life of our own. We think that our peers are doing so much better than us, and why we can’t be like them. We just want to have a perfect life, we all do. We have this idea of ‘having it all together.’ at a certain age we have to have everything together in our lives, or... Or what? What will happen if we don't get it all together your deadline? Will we just stop all together or will we regret not going the same route as our peers, who seem to have it all together. The moment we see someone else has it all together we desire be like them. We want what they have, and we start to compare our lives and journeys to the next person. That's here we go wrong.

It is  not always us comparing ourselves to others, many times it is outsiders. When your parents compare you to your friends, or hearing “why don’t you do what this person is doing?” “You should start dressing like her/him.” “All your friends are settling down and getting married, when is it your turn?” We get compared to our friends, our siblings, our parents, even our ancestors. As millennials we are compared to the previous generations, who think we need to be more like them, but that is a topic for another day.  Many times we even compare our Christian walk with other Christians. We look at how people pray, how much they know about the bible, how many people they talk to about Jesus. How many scriptures they have memorized and automatically think that our walk with Christ should look like theirs.

The main point here is that when we compare ourselves to others we are seeking to imitate a lifestyle that was never meant for us. We are trying to create and live a life that is not ours. It’s some fantasy of what a “perfect” life looks like.

Galatians 6:4-5 (MSG)

Each of you must examine your own actions. Then you can be proud of your own accomplishments without comparing yourself to others.  Assume your own responsibility.

Why do we compare? Is it because we feel like we aren’t good enough or too good? When we compare ourselves to others we either, look at ourselves as higher or lower than someone else.

Comparison can lead to envy, we see this in the story of Cain and Abel. Cain saw that he did not get the same response from God that his brother got. So out of anger he killed him. Comparison can lead to insecurity. We may even find ourselves going through an identity crisis. Comparison leads to so many inner problems because that is where our focus lies when we are comparing ourselves to others. We are so focused on ourselves that we become unhappy with the person we are because we are looking at an image of ourselves and trying to fine tune it to be some perfect image of us someone else. We are trying to create something or someone we’re not.  At the end of the day we will realize that no matter how much we compare ourselves to the next person it will never equal a perfect life.

Philippians 2:3

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

 

How about we look away from ourselves. How about we get out of ourselves and focus on someone else, When we are caught up in just being who God created us to be, living in the will of God we don’t have time to focus on what someone else is doing, or what we aren’t doing. We are just living the life God gave us.  

So who should we compare ourselves to? I’m glad you asked…

Jesus! The only person we should look at and what to be exactly like. We want the lifestyle Jesus leads.

1 Corinthians 11:1

Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.

Ephesians 5:1-2

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

If we are going to compare ourselves to anyone it should be Jesus.

Reflection

1. Who do you find that you compare yourself to the most?
2. Why do you feel you have to compare yourself to others.
3. How do you feel when you are compared to other people? (ex. When your family compares your life choices to your friend’s) How does that affect you?
4. What would life be like if you focus more on others, not to compare but as a selfless act?

Prayer Time

Meditate on these scriptures, and ask God to show you what it means to be an imitator of Christ. Use the answers to the questions to guide this prayer. Talk to him about whatever is on your heart at the moment, be completely open and honest. Remember that prayer is just a conversation with God.

Day 12: Purpose

Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the meaning of my existence? Is there a reason? Why am I the person I am?

Questions we have all asked ourselves and probably still ask ourselves. In order to answer those questions we have to look past the shields on our eyes. We have to look past, what our purpose will lead to. We have to look past the success it will bring, the wealth, and what we can get out of it. It’s so much deeper than that. There is a reason behind everything we do, there is always a motive, whether we admit it or not. We don’t just walk for the sake of walking or speak for the sake of speaking. There’s always a reason rather big or small, it's still a reason. So what’s the reason for our existence? What are we here for?

Isaiah 43:7

Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

The answer to those questions are right there in the scripture, we are created for the glory of God. We glorify God by living in relationship with Him, being faithful and committed to Him. God made us in His image, therefore we cannot fulfill our purpose apart from Him.

It’s easy to get lost in trying to find our purpose. We often go looking for meaning in our lives, and once we think we’ve found it, it seems to slip away from us. We can sometimes get lost in the complexity of life and forget about the simple things. We often confuse our goals with our purpose, we all have that one big dream that we want to reach, and once we get there we will have fulfilled our life’s purpose. But that’s not the case at all, it’s the reason behind what we do. What is our motive? If our very existence is to glorify God, everything we do will point to Him. The way we live, the way we treat others, how we carry ourselves, it all points to God. We will use our gifts to honor Him. We use what He’s given us, to bring Him glory. This doesn’t mean that you will be a pastor, or a worship leader, or work in the church.  Wherever God has you, whether you’re an artist, a doctor, lawyer, business person, scientist, engineer, musician, mathematician, teacher, pastor, worship leader, singer, etc. Whatever you do, do it to glory of God. When we are in a relationship with God and our foundation is in Him, our hearts are in the right place. Everything we do we do because we want to honor God. Our motives change, our outlook, and our perspective changes. We now have a reason to do what we do and we give it our all because we want to give God the best.

I always thought that glorifying God meant that I had to give up my passions, and dreams, to be a minister. I was under the impression that I had to drop everything and live in the church. I thought that I could not be a Christian and an actress at the same time. I realized that God gave me the gift of acting, He gave me the ability to entertain His people, and I will use it because He gave it to me. I will use it to glorify Him.  I was constantly trying to find a way to glorify God in everything I did. Trying to force my faith into every part of my life.  I realized that when I started to live in relationship with him I did not have to force my faith into my work. It is who I am, it is the life I live, so it shines through no matter what I am doing. Because Christ is my life, I can do nothing outside of Him.

-Dyamond

Matthew 7:16-17

You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.

John 15:5

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Reflection

1. Does your life glorify God?
2. In what ways can you use the gifts God has given you to glorify Him?

Prayer Time

Just respond to God in prayer. Stripping away all the distractions. Reread the scriptures, and tell God what is on your heart. Remember that this is a conversation between you and God, be honest with Him.

Day 10: Believing in Ourselves?

What does it mean when we say we believe in ourselves, do we believe that we can reach the dreams we aspire to reach or do we depend solely upon ourselves to get us there. If the answer is the latter than we have it all wrong. We cannot get anywhere without God. He is the source of our very being, we cannot breathe without Him. And if we can't do that on our own how are we going to get through life on our own? The simple answer is that we can't. 

I grew up being taught by teachers to always believe in myself, to trust myself, to believe and you can achieves. They told me, whatever you set your mind to, you can do, just believe. You can imagine my disappointment when I wasn't a big Disney Channel start with my own television show by the time I was 14. They just told me to believe in myself, to believe that I could do, focus and you will get there. My family taught me to pray. As I got older my perspective begin to change, and I found the source of my problem, pride. I felt like I could do everything on my own, I didn't need help from anyone I had myself and my dream and that was all I needed. I was going to make it to the top and everyone was going to know that my success was self-made. I prayed occasionally when I felt like I really needed God to get me what I wanted. I cannot tell you how wrong I was, when my focus began to shift off myself and focus on God, and entire new plan was revealed. When my vocabulary changed from, I can to God can, my life started to change. I began to realize that I was not meant to take on the world, I cannot go through life alone. I thought I could, and that was the very thing that broke me, because my pride had been built up for so long that it took me a while for me to believe that God could even do things for me. I was that person that always had to know what was going on, and where I was going, but when I put my faith in Christ all of the changed. I began to understand that my plan may look easier than His, but His is way better.

Philippians 4:11-13

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Paul is writing to the Philippians here, and he’s saying, I know how to be content. I know what it’s like to have a lot and to have nothing at all, And he goes into the last statement by saying I have learned the secret of facing this. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. In other words, he’s saying I cannot be content on my own, I cannot face these life struggles, and the sustain the blessings you give on my own. I’m running on your strength God, I need it to survive the good times and the bad times. I need you to live!

I think we love the idea of believing in ourselves until we need someone else to depend on because depending on ourselves is no longer working. That’s when we turn to God, when we can’t handle it anymore. We must learn to stop using God as a tool. We tend to find the place in our lives where God “fits” and keep Him there because that’s where and when we need Him the most. Often times we use God to get what we want, or we try to put Him on a leash. Almost as if we are saying, "okay God I will let you take me so far, but I got it from here. I don't need you anymore I can handle it now, thanks for the ride." As I've mentioned before, we have to let go of what we want for ourselves and trust that whatever God is doing, it's better. I think the problem with believing solely in ourselves is that, in our eyes, we become invincible. We can do anything, and go anywhere because we believe we can, we start to believe that we are untouchable. Some places we aren't meant to go and some things we are not meant to do, at that point in time.

If we believe that we can can do all things through Christ, then it is possible. It's called faith. But when we decide that we can do it alone, apart from God that's when we  start to stumble. There is nothing wrong with believing in your abilities, but remember who gave you those abilities. We are here by the grace of God, we are not here on our own doing, we are here because God wants us in the place and position we are in. We can believe in ourselves all we want but without Christ we have no power, we cannot do anything without him Our hope is in the Lord not ourselves. It is through faith that we are given the strength to live, that we are given the ability to be better than who we were. As we take the focus off of ourselves and put it into Christ, we will find ourselves doing things we never thought we would do. We will find ourselves in positions we could only have ever dreamed of being in. When we give ourselves up to Christ, what we get in return is beyond us. We must choose to give up trusting in ourselves and trust in God and the outcome will be a million times greater than what we thought we could do on our own. Life is just so much better with Christ.

Reflection

Today just shift your focus from self to God. Make that slight change in your vocabulary to choose to trust God over self.

Prayer Time

If this message spoke to you today, or it didn’t as much. Talk to God about it. Talk to God about how you are feeling. This is just a conversation between you and Him. You can write it down, or you can speak. However the spirit leads you, just let the Holy Spirit guide your prayer today.