Day 164: When Fear is Good...

Psalms 56:3

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Anybody have something that scares the crap out of you? Like one thing that you will just say no to and not look back or regret it? I know we all want to be brave and walk around like we aren’t afraid of anything, but we all have at least one fear. There’s something out there, besides God, that shakes us to our core. For me that thing is needles, I am terrified of needles, and I’m not talking about not liking needles. I mean it’s bad, I’m worse than a two-year-old. There are tears, kicking and screaming, bribing, running, multiple explanations, and eventually, my mom has to hold me down. All of this for a split second of pain, and it happens every time I go to the doctor. It got so bad to the point where I would send myself into an asthma attack and the doctors would have the machines ready because they knew that Dyamond was going to act a fool. And I never let them down. The thing about this it is that each time I went to the doctor I had to face and overcome this fear, and I knew that I would come out alright because my mom or dad would be there holding my hand through it. It took a couple of decades but I’m not as afraid as I used to be. Fear is a temporary thing, we won’t always be afraid. We won’t be scared forever.  sometimes we’re afraid to do something and then we realize that it’s not that bad after all. I truly believe that facing our fears head on is how we overcome them. The same way my mother and father was there holding my hand or holding me down is the same way God leads us to overcome our fears. God is there holding our hands and walking with us through these valleys of fear.

Fear turns us to God. Fear moves us to act. Fear does something to us that bravery can’t, it reveals our weakness, and therefore our need for God, in whom we get our strength and courage. When I’m scared the first thing I do is scream Jesus. You don’t even have to be Christian to understand me on this one. When we’re afraid, it doesn't matter if we haven’t talked to God in years, we start praying like we are trying to call down every angel in heaven. This is why I say fear can be a good thing and can be used to bring us closer to God. Fear is scary and uncomfortable and it pushes us to act. Recently my two-year-old nephew was choking on an apple. My sister was trying to get him-him to spit it up. His face started turning red and before I knew it I jumped out my seat like a superhero to save him. The fear that went through my body when I saw his little face turning red as he was trying to breathe is indescribable. It was almost as if I flew out of my seat to get to him. He’s fine now, we got him to spit it up. But it was my fear of losing him in those few moments that pushed me out of my seat to get that apple out of his mouth. This is the type of fear that drives us to trust God and lean on Him. Even when we are afraid of things, and life we can put our trust in Him and know that whatever happens, we will be okay.

We all want to be fearless but we don’t start out that way. We don’t come out the womb brave and taking on the world unless you’re Wonder Woman. We learn over time to be courageous, we are taught not to fear things as we get older. God gives us courage as we grow in Him every day. I know we all want to claim to be superhuman and unafraid but we’re just human and there are some scary things in this world. However, it is overcoming them through Christ that gives us courage. If we’re never afraid we will never know what it’s like to have courage. Now when I talk about fear in this context I’m not talking about the crippling fear that stops you, I’m talking about the type of fear that moves you. The type of fear that keeps you going. The type of fear that motivates you. This is fear that doesn’t stop your life or cause you to have panic attacks. No, this is godly fear. That’s how we fear God, this type of fear is driven by love, This type of fear is good. This is the type of fear that is birthed from love and respect. This is the type of fear that says, Lord, I love you so much I don’t want to lose you. I’m going to keep going in life because my fear of losing you is greater than my fear of anything else.

Fear can be a good thing, but don’t let it paralyze you or stop you. It’s okay to be afraid we’re human, it happens that that moment is when we turn to God. We cannot let fear stop us, let it motivate us and push us. Fear drives faith when you're afraid just lean on Him, turn to God.

Reflection

1. What are you afraid of?
2. Do you believe that God is bigger than your fears?
3. When is fear a good thing?
4. Can you tell the difference from when fear is good and when fear is bad?
5. What is it?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Ask good to show you the difference between godly fear and worldly fear.

I love you, I hope you have a magnificent day or evening, be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 165, and follow the blog!

Day 162: YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

Psalms 139:13-14

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

Something we don’t hear enough is, “you’re beautiful” or “You’re handsome”. I think as the church we tend to neglect the idea of self-esteem when it comes to beauty. We tend to beat around the bush when it comes to caring about our physical appearance. We as Christian are very focused on what’s on the inside, we don’t really focus on physical appearance. It’s more about what our heart looks like. While that is great and I do not want to discredit that in any way, I believe that it is important for people to be complimented. I feel that it is important for us as Christians to have confidence. I believe that we should be able to see ourselves as beautiful and not be accused of arrogance or cockiness.

God formed the innermost parts of us but He also formed the outermost parts of us. We were created by the greatest artist there is, was, and will be. We are the greatest work of His hands, made in His image. If that’s not beautiful I don’t know what is. I talk about this because I truly believe that we are beautiful people and we must believe that. It’s something that many people especially people in our generation suffer with. You’re beautiful, don’t let anyone tell you it’s just on the inside.

One of my favorite movies and musicals is The Color Purple. It’s a beautiful story, and a piece of the plot is a woman finding her own beauty and learning to own that. There is a point in the story where she can’t even look in the mirror for more than two seconds. She doesn’t see herself as beautiful because she has been told over and over that she was ugly. She has been beaten down all her life and eventually, she starts to believe it. I tell this story because there are too many people especially within the body of Christ, as I stated above, walking around with low self-esteem. There are too many people out there who don’t believe that they are beautiful. I’m talking about the men too, especially men, they get overlooked too often. We all need to hear it at one point or another. It’s one thing to think but ti believes it is different. I grew up being bullied really bad, I was called ugly every day for years and I heard that word so much that I eventually started to believe it. This is why hearing it is important.

I feel like a lot of people are opposed to Christians being attractive, especially if they’re pastors. Like, people are really shocked when they see a pastor who is attractive. It’s interesting like it’s almost a sin in the world for a Christ follower to be hot. Our beauty isn’t just on the inside, we are human just like the next person, and there is nothing wrong with being told you’re beautiful, feeling beautiful, or wanting to be told you’re beautiful.

Back to the story of the color purple. In the musical at one point the actress playing the lead sings a song, and in the middle of that songs she looks out into the audience and says, “I’m beautiful”, not once but twice. The actress Cynthia Erivo who plays the role talks about this moment in the play. She discusses how we need to hear this statement more often and how we do not hear it enough. I believe that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and we have to believe that to be true in every part of our lives.

All this to say, have confidence, know that you are beautiful. Start to see yourself as more than just a beautiful person on the inside but know that God has made you and there you are the most beautiful thing ever. You’re beautiful on the inside but you’re also beautiful on the outside. Believe that.

Reflection

Take the time today to look in the mirror and say, I’m “beautiful” or ‘I’m handsome”, gorgeous, pretty, stunning, cute, whatever word you choose. Then compliment someone, make someone feel good about themselves today and every day following.

Prayer Time

Take the time to pray that God boosts the confidence of His people. Have a conversation with Him about what we talked about today.

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 163!

Day 159: Give What You Got

Acts 3:1-7

Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money. Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.

Something that stands out to me about this passage, that was actually pointed out by pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr., is that Peter and John didn’t have what the man was looking for but they had what He needed, Jesus. This man had been sitting by this gate called beautiful probably for as long as he could remember each day, begging for money from any and everyone that passed by. But one day he asked the right people and didn’t get what he originally wanted but what he needed. I’m going to say that he probably got what he had been wanting his whole life. He was able to walk, something he had never experienced. I think we can take two points from this story, from the perspective of the lame man but also from Peter and John.

Peter and John could have, one walked past this man, they could have just told him no and kept going, or could have tried to give him anything they had to help. But because they were willing to stop, this man was healed. Because they were willing to say, I don’t have and silver or gold, but I will give you what I have.  Now that last point is what I want to focus on. They didn’t have any money to give them but they offered him Jesus. Peter and John may not have had what he was asking for but they definitely had what he needed. Which leads me to the title of today’s devo, we have to give what we got. We might not have everything we think we need, to help people we may not have what people are asking for but we at least have something. We have something we can give, we can share Jesus with them. We might not have everything they’re looking for but we can lend a helping hand, we can pray with them, we can sit with them. We can do something. We don’t have to wait until we have everything or a lot of money to do something, if we have Jesus we have the greatest gift there is, and there’s nothing better than sharing Jesus with someone, and giving them the hope and peace and love you have experienced through Him.  

This reminds me of photos that shows a little girl holding a heart and putting in the hand of God. The caption says, “It’s not much, but it’s all I have.” One thing I try to do with everything in my especially my relationship with God, is give my all. Even if it’s close to nothing, We should learn to adapt to this way of living, that even if we don’t have everything we give what we have. A lot of times I have heard christians say that they want to get themselves together before coming to God. If that were possible we’d never come to Him, we have to come baring it all, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the down right out of line. We have to give our all to Him. We give our hearts to Him even if they’re broken and in pieces. We give Him every part of us, even if it’s incomplete, He will complete us.

The second point to make is that sometimes when we ask for things, we might not get exactly what we want but we definitely get exactly what we need. Sometimes we will get more than what we ask for. The man wanted money, but He needed Jesus, he also needed to walk. I’m sure he wanted to walk as well. It’s a blessing when God honors a need over a want, because it can end up changing our lives. This man who had never walked a day in his life stood up and walked because the power of Jesus Christ was spoken over him. He asked for money but he got Jesus, his legs got strength and he walked again. I can guaruntee you that this man would have taken the healing of his legs over money any day, that’s something money could never do. I love the excitement in those last few phrases; the punctuation, exclamation points, and just the excitement over all. He leaped for joy and praised God. Thousands of people probably passed him every day and millions over a lifetime, but one day Jesus sent the right people and his life changed forever.

We have to give everything we have to God first and His people. We may not have everything but we have something and we can use that to forward His kingdom. We can give something, no matter how big or small, we all have something to offer. Give what you have and see how God works.

Prayer Time

Talk to God about what we talked about today, take the time to give Him all of your attention and everything you can offer to Him. Just take the time to spend with Him today, converse 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 160!

Day 156: Recap

Day 149: Family Matters

Today we talked about how much our biological families matter to us, and how important it is not to neglect them for a spirtual family. We focused on Proverbs 6:20, 1 John 4:20, Psalms 133:31, and Ephesians 6:4.
"God instructs us to love our neighbor, our neighbor is our blood brother and sister, our first and second cousins. We are called to love our family as ourselves as well. As Christians, we often look outside of our family and home base for people to love, but they are right in the next room. They are the families we were born into."

Day 150: The Value of God's Word

Today we went through Psalms 119 and explored the value of God's word, as the writer of Psalms 119 did. We focused on many scriptures in Psalms 119. Psalms 119: 72, 105, 127, 130, 160, 165, 103, and 104.

"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"

Day 151: Loose Grip on Plans

Today we talked about planning but allowing God to direct our steps, and even allowing Him to change our plans and trusting that they are so much better than what we could ever come up with.

We focused on Proverbs 16:9.

"We have to know that wherever our foot lands, it’s exactly where God wants us to be."

" Sometimes interrupted plans are better than the original."

Day 152: The Message not the Messenger

Today we talked about the importance of the message and not focusing on the messenger. How we often miss the message because we are so focused on the messenger. We focused on John 3:16-17 and John 10:10.

"We are all vessels of God, and He uses us and our lives and testimonies to spread His word and save other people. It doesn’t matter what you look like, or where you come from, if you have given your life to Christ you are a vessel for His message."

Day 153: I Have this Hope

Today we talked about the hope that we have in Jesus Christ, the hope that we can look towards in the midst of doubt and advesity. We focused on Psalms 3:2-6.

"We have this hope that even in our darkest hour God is our light, even at our lowest moment God’s surrounds us with His love and peace."

Day 154: It Can't All Be For Nothing

Today we talked about the purpose God has for us here on Earth. We focused on John 3:16, and highlighted the drastic measures God took so that we may have a relationship with Him.

"We cannot go through life being so focused on heaven that we are no good to the earth. While we’re here God has given us a purpose, He gave us this life for a reason. He sent His son for a reason. He wouldn’t go through all of that for nothing. Don’t throw it all away."

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day. Be sure to enjoy yourday and come back tomorrow for Day 157!

Day 155: It Can't All Be for Nothing

John 3:16

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

When I think of the Gospel and the measures God took for us to have life, I am reminded of how much He loves us. I am reminded that He wants a relationship with us so bad that He went through the trouble of seeing His own son persecuted on our behalf. He turned His back on His child so that we can live a life free of sin, so that we may have a relationship with Him. But also that we may have eternal life when our life here on earth is over. Today I want to talk about the importance of our life here on earth. God took a lot of drastic measures to assure that we can have a life full of freedom and purpose. That we may live an abundant life, here on earth.

I’ve heard pastor’s say that our life on earth doesn’t matter because we have a life that will be spent in eternity with God. With all due respect, I must disagree, it is how we live our life on earth that will determine if we get to spend eternity with God. Secondly, if our lives on earth weren’t that important why did God send His Son to die for the sins of humanity so that we didn’t have to. He could have let our sin kill us, but He didn’t He decided to save us and give us a straight connection to Him.

From the beginning of time, God has meant for us to have purpose and life here on Earth. From the creation, one thing I notice is that He created man last as if He was preparing the earth for man. Providing them with means of food, water, and work. Then when He created man, He gave them dominion over the earth. He then blew the breath of life into him, He blew breath into the nostrils of Adam and it is with that breath that we live and breathe today. We are living on the borrowed breath of God.

Now let’s fast forward to the Gospel. The coming of Jesus had been prophesied long before He was born. The moment Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the forbidden tree, man was disconnected from God, and from that moment on God was in constant pursuit of our hearts. God went through precise, complicated, and detailed steps in order to secure a relationship with us.

Jesus was born of a virgin Mary. Now Jesus could have come through a divine cloud, hailing righteousness on all man. But that is not how it went down, Jesus came to earth as a man, He was born of a woman, conceived by the Holy Spirit. So He was fully man while also being fully God. Jesus experienced life as a child, a teenager, and a man. He started His ministry at the age of 30. Jesus would then go on preaching and healing people. Then Jesus would be betrayed by one of His own and suffers the worst death known to man. Jesus suffered the death we should have gotten. He came and took on our sin, and died with it. Then three days later He resurrected without it. Jesus became sin in order to defeat it, and God would have to turn His back on His own Son because God cannot come in contact with sin. Which is why in our sin we are disconnected from God. But Jesus suffered and gave up His life so that we could be free. He even took on the sin of those who persecuted Him.

All this to say, It can’t all be for nothing. Jesus didn’t come and die for nothing. God didn’t go through the drastic measures of sending His son to live and die for nothing. When I think of the Gospel, I think of the life God has destined for us to live. I think of the message and hope He sent us through Jesus Christ. We cannot go through life being so focused on heaven that we are no good to the earth. While we’re here God has given us a purpose, He gave us this life for a reason. He sent His son for a reason. He wouldn’t go through all of that for nothing. Don’t throw it all away. We have a purpose here on this earth, God wants us here for a reason. It can’t be for nothing.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to think about all God went through so that we may have a relationship with Him. Think about the importance of your life here on earth. Pray however you feel led.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or weekend. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 156!

Day 78: Faith Based Living

1 John 3:18

Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

1 John 2:6

Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

I have found in my life that living is a collection of experiences. We don’t have to talk about living because it is just something we do, we wake up every morning with steady breath and heartbeats, we walk and talk we do things that shows for itself that we are living breathing beings. We don’t have to prove that we are alive, the breath in our lungs as our chest rises and falls is proof of life.

It’s no different  with our faith and this Christ-like life we are living. When we commit ourselves and our hearts to Christ our lives begin to look like His. Our actions become similar to His, we begin to live a life that is fully devoted to Christ and stands as a testimony of His, life, death, and resurrection, because we have committed our hearts to Him. When we are fully committed and devoted to God we do not have to prove our faith. We do not have to prove our Christianity because our lives speak for themselves. It’s the way we love, the way we live, the way we treat others, the way we walk this day to day life. When we are committed to Christ it becomes less about talking and more about the walking. We don’t have to force Jesus into our lives because He is already there.

I have found from experience that the times I was forcing Jesus into my life and trying to prove my Christianity was when I really wasn’t devoted to Him at all. When I had a desire to be a Christian, but no desire to live like one. That presented a problem, I was a sunday only Christian. But Monday through Saturday I had to keep up the image of a Christian. Fooling people into believing that I was a ‘Good Christian. Making sure I talked about God at least three times a day, read a few scriptures, and bragged about my Christian lifestyle. This was because I needed my life to look good, I had to talk about it because I wasn’t living it. It was rough, at times I didn’t even feel like a Christian, I felt like I was doing everything out of obligation, going through the motions. I was being a hypocrite. Not really experiencing God because my ego, and my lack of humility got in the way. See I wanted to be a Christian but I also wanted to be the center of attention, I wasn’t ready to let go of my pride and selfish desires. I wanted to find a way to fit God into my life, not realizing that if I just gave up my pride, my selfish desires that God had my life planned already, I fit into God’s plan, not the other way around.

-Dyamond

All that to say, when we are fully committed to Christ when we make the choice to follow Him with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and seek His face first, then we are living, we will not have to prove that love. Our lives will speak for us, Matthew 7:16 states, “You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act…” We are known by our actions not our words, by the fruit we bear.

If we are not bearing good fruit, where are our roots planted? On what foundation do we stand? We must commit ourselves fully to Christ, and continue to make that choice every single day. Everyday we get up we choose to continue following Christ, we choose to dive into His word. We choose to pray and talk to Him, we choose the soil we are planted in. When we do this, and when we start to grow, the fruit from the tree will speak for itself.

Live, don’t talk about it, just live.

Reflection

1. Where are your roots planted?
2. Do you find yourself trying to prove your Christianity?

Prayer Time

Think about the questions and answers. Reflect on what we talked about today and respond to God. Give Him every part of your being. If you have not fully committed our life to Christ, I believe that right now is the perfect time to do so. We all must make this choice and no one can make it for us, so if you feel the Holy Spirit tugging on your heart, that gut feeling, whatever it may be pushing you to respond, do it. Maybe you have never been offered the gift of salvation, if that’s you and you want to make that decision, you just have to believe it in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and that He was raised from the dead. Wherever you are, you don’t have to be in a church or religious setting to give your life to Christ. There is no better time than right now.

If you made the choice to follow Christ, rededicate, or to submit your life to Him fully, Go to Romans 10:9-10

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

And repeat these few words,

Jesus I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour who died for my sin and was raised three days later. I repent of my sins and I give my life to you. I believe in my heart that you are the true living God. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen.

Congratulations! The angels in heaven are rejoicing right now.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 79 and everyday for the rest of the year!

Day 55: Toxic Waste

As we grow up one of the thing we start to learn how to do is be responsible and take care of ourselves. At one point of that growing up process we will realize that taking care of ourselves is more than just paying bills, putting food on our table, and providing for ourselves. It is so much more than being independent. In our twenties we are going through so many changes, our mindsets change, our bodies start to change, a lot of things go through changes. We have to make sure we stop and take care of ourselves, weed out anything that is harming us and be happy people. We know how to pay bills and work, today we are going to explore what it means to focus on ourselves for a bit and taking out the toxic waste in our life. The things that are poisoning us,: spiritually, emotionally and/or mentally, and physically.

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things

We must learn to focus on the positive things. It’s so easy to focus on everything going wrong and sometimes it seems to outweigh the good. But trust me when I say that there is always something to thank God for. We cannot dwell on the things that are screwed up about life, or we will fall into a black hole of sadness, or depression. Life is better than what we perceive it to be sometimes. We  just have to realize that we are not our issues, we are not our struggles, we are not our bad days, we are not our depression. We are children of God, we must set our mind on the things above and trust that God is bigger than the fears, and anxieties. He is greater than it all.

It starts with us

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

A lot of times when we think about detoxing our lives and getting rid of all the things that are not good for us, we start outside of ourselves. We start eliminating people and things out of our lives that are surface issues, not realizing that it is so much deeper. Did we ever think that maybe we’re the problem? We’re the ones wreaking havoc on our own lives. We have to start with ourselves and work from the inside out, or things will never change. We must realize the flaws within ourselves first. A lot of times we are harboring things in our hearts, holding onto pain. hidden sin, unforgiveness. This is toxic to our spiritual health.  We cannot have a real relationship with God if we are harboring all this baggage that keeps us from getting close to Him. Whatever it is we must let it go. Holding on to all this is not doing anything but hurting us, poisoning our spirit. The more we hold on  the worse it gets.

We must take care of our spiritual body as well, if not more, as we take care of our physical body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?

Do you think God will dwell in a place that is unclean? If our temple is cluttered with everything that is not of God, and our own mess, is there any room for the true living God? In order to live a righteous life, we must focus on our spiritual wellness and take care of our soul. We must feed it so that it will grow.  Our spirits thrive off of prayer and scripture.

Prayer is essential to having a relationship with God. It is our direct line to Him. prayer is how we communicate with our Heavenly father. We have no relationship without communication. The same way we put in work to make our earthly relationships work is the same amount of time and effort we should be putting in when it comes to our relationship with God.

One the other hand, God gave us this physical body and we must take care of it. A lot of times I feel like many Christians are under the impression that taking care of ourselves physically, i.e. working out and eating healthy is not necessary, because it isn’t about the looks. Taking care of our body isn’t about having a nice six pack or looking good and having glowing skin (Daniel 1:12-15), that’s just a perk(It is okay for Christians to be attractive). It is about taking care of this vessel God has blessed us with and not abusing it. He has given us this body to live in and we only get one so we better take care of it.  

Sometimes we just have to let go

John 8:32

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free

We will come to times in our live when we will realize that the situation we are in is hazardous to our spiritual, mental, and emotional health. We will realize that certain people are not good for us. We will need to remove ourselves from the situation if we want to continue to grow in our spiritual lives, and life in general. Our eyes have been opened and God has revealed the truth, now what are we going to do with it? This is the hard part, letting go of the things that we love, even though we know they are not good for us. This can be anything from friends to relationships or bad habits. We tend to hold on to the things in which we are emotionally invested, even if it’s tearing our souls apart. Once we know the truth it’s very hard to ignore, so what will we do with it?

Once we get ourselves in line with God and get rid of all the things within us that is poisoning our spirits; we will no longer stand for anything or anyone else outside of us causing us harm.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Take the time to reflect on what was talked about today. Which subject spoke to you the most? Respond to God, talk to Him about what resonated with you. And ask Him to remove the toxic waste out of your life. Talk to Him especially about the things you struggle with in secret, confess to HIm all those hidden sins, knowing that He will not judge you. Be an open book with God today, allow him to remove any and everything that is stopping you from growing in you faith.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 56!

Day 51: Recap!

Hello everyone, I apologize once again for the post being late, I had a show to do today. But I hope everyone had a great day, a great weekend and a beautiful week. This week was so awesome, we cover so many different things and ended with hunger pangs. Speaking on being hungry for God. This week we will continue to explore what having a relationship with God looks like, getting into the harder to talk about subject, like mental health. If you have any questions or have something you would like to discuss or even a suggestion as to what we should speak on one week, please don't hesitate to contact me and let me know. What do you feel like our generation need to hear? Comment, email me (thedyamondjbackup@gmail.com), tweet me (IAmDyamondJ), anything let me know. This is for all of us, this is our devo. Talk to me, let's have an open discussion. Thank you for you continuity in reading the demos I pray that you are growing, and I love you. Thank you! Here's to Day 51!!!!! We are halfway to 100 people. Stick with me!!!!
- Dyamond

Day 50: Hunger Pangs

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

Psalms 42:2

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

John 6:35

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

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

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

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

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

Reflection

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

Prayer Time

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

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

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

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

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