Day 204: Comfortable With Who You Are?

1 Corinthians 13:11

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

Today I want to talk about growth and maturity and how the society we live in has a huge impact on that. I grew up listening to this scripture, and from the very start I knew that it was about  growing up and being mature. At some point in our lives we will have to move on from being a child and become an adult. Not just physically but mentally.

We live in a world that teaches us to be comfortable with who we are, in every sense of the word. There is a problem with that, it also teaches us to be comfortable with who we are not without ever exploring who we are really supposed to be. I can speak for nearly everyone when I say, the person we are right now is not the person we were a year ago or maybe two years ago, maybe even a month ago. As humans we are constantly changing, constantly evolving, so why are we settling?  This new movement of comfortability has caused a generation to be stagnant. If we were always comfortable there would be no growth, we grow as people when we are pushed out of our comfort zones. However, I am afraid this society is teaching people to stay in the box they are comfortable in, in order to be happy. Sometimes reaching our highest potential means that there will be moments of sadness, bitterness, anger, frustration, confusion. We are not always going to be happy and that is okay. God gave us emotions and He gave us life, to feel and explore every part of it. Why are we stuck where we are comfortable and safe? Why are we content with being semi-good or semi-okay? Why are we okay with living a life we know could be better but we’re happy where we are so we aren’t going to go any further? Why are we pushing people to believe they are something they’re not when we know the truth?

We are conditioning people to live and accept a life of sin or a life unfulfilled because in the name of not offending anyone we want you to be comfortable with who you are. We have become more concerned with people’s emotions rather than their souls. It has caused a growing number of stagnation within the body of Christ and humanity as a whole. If Jesus was concerned about all the people who would be mad at Him for speaking truth and imparting wisdom, where would we be? If He was more concerned about hurting someone’s feelings rather than saving them from their sin where would we  be? If He was concerned about what people would think of Him, He would not have gone and died on that cross. Jesus had a bigger picture in mind, He wasn’t concerned that people were angry because He interrupted their corrupt and comfortable ways of living. No He was concerned with their soul, they’ll get over the anger eventually, but they couldn’t get over being condemned for all eternity. It was as if Jesus was saying, “If I have to take this cross so that you can see you are more than a sinner, and more than what you think you are, I’ll take it. Because where you are is not where you are supposed to be.” He loves us that  much.

All this to say, who we are at the present moment in  time is not who we are meant to be or who we are going to be. Yet due to the changes and conformities within this modern society and the sensitivity of a generation we’d rather you be semi-happy than uncomfortable. Somewhere along the line we stopped growing. Somewhere along the line the truth got a little too real for some people so we started to conform. People started getting angry and hostile so we started to retreat, and let them be. We, as the body of Christ cannot allow any of that stop us. If we want growth we have to be willing to change. We have to be willing to step out of old ways and walk where God wants us. That means that we even have to deny ourselves sometimes and claim our identity in Christ and not settle for who we think we are. But the goal is to really be the person God created us to be.  That will take a lot of moulding and shaping to do. Now don’t get me wrong, I am all about self-love and confidence, but I am against stagnating oneself. Yes I want to encourage people to love themselves but I also want you to know that growth is limitless.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond, however you feel led. There was a lot thrown at you today. Talk to God about what we discussed today, have a conversation with a friend or someone else, start a discussion. Just respond, however you respond is okay. Then pray about whatever is on your heart.

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 205!

Day 113: Dare to Fail

Let’s talk about life. We as a generation love the idea of success, we want to ‘be something’ so bad. We want to be better or do more than our parents, or be more than the generation before us. We are dreamers, we have so many visions and dreams that we want to accomplish or that we want to come to past. However, because we are so passionate, and because we want success so bad we are afraid of failure. We are afraid to take the real steps to get to where we want to be because, “What if it doesn’t work?” “What if we fall flat on our face?” What if this, and what if that.

Proverbs 24:16

For the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.

When we think about failing at something we often think that it is the end of the world, that it was our last chance. That is not so, the scripture tells us that a righteous person falls seven times, seven times, but they get back up again. We can fall seven times but we must make sure that we get up eight. As cliche as it sounds, it’s not about falling but it’s about getting back up again some falls are easier to get up from than others. I understand that, but we have to get back up, even if it takes a little longer, we have to get up. I wonder how many times Jesus was knocked down as He was carrying that cross to calvary. How many people walked up to Him and spit in His face, hit him and knocked him and the cross down. If He had stayed down, where would we be? If He decided that it was too much to handle, who would we be?

Galatians 1:10, Does this sound as if I am trying to win human approval? No indeed! What I want is God's approval! Am I trying to be popular with people? If I were still trying to do so, I would not be a servant of Christ.

The mistake we make is trying to prove our success to others, or prove ourselves to other people, who are most likely facing the same struggles we are. Sometimes we are so caught up in what people think of us and how we will be letting them down that we don’t even try. When we are living for Christ, we don’t have to worry about impressing Him, He knows who we are. He knows where we are going, He sculpted the path that we are traveling on.

Just because we fail does not mean we are failures. This is something that we must constantly remind ourselves of. I have found that this generation is particularly hard on themselves. We are perfectionist and sometimes that is our greatest asset as well as our biggest flaw. We have to appreciate the parts of our lives that are far less than perfect. It gives us a chance to allow the perfection of Christ make up for what we are not and could never be. He completes us. Failure isn’t always bad, we learn from these things, we find light in the dark places, because we have to. We grow in the valleys, so when we get to the mountain tops we understand what it took for us to be here. Failure is a part of life, it is also a part of success. Some of the greatest people in the bible and the most successful people today fell before they got to where they were then or are now. David and Moses are two of them, Moses killed a man and fled. David, killed a man because he wanted His wife. Peter denied Jesus three times. Paul persecuted Christians. But we do not remember these men for what they did that was less than perfect, but how it led them to Christ. We know them for the great men of God they were.

We have to atleast try, we cannot live afraid to fall. With all of this being said, we have to give ourselves a chance. God has given us this life and we are not to live in fear.

2 Timothy 1:7,  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

We serve an unfailing God, and He did not give us a spirit of fear so we will not walk in fear. If we fail it will not be because we were too afraid to try. If we fail at least we know that we gave it a chance. Sometimes life can leave you shook, and scared, but it is in those moments where we put our trust in God and jump. Things won’t always go the way we plan or the way we think they should go, but God uses every moment, every fall, to His glory.

“It is better to make a thousand failures than to be too cowardly to ever undertake anything.” -Clovis G. Chappell

“Just jump afraid. Dare to do it, and maybe you land, maybe it’ll be perfect. “ - Viola Davis

We never know what can happen if we don’t take a chance. Jesus is calling us out on the water, we have to step and have faith that we won’t fall, and even if we do, He is right there to pick us up.

Reflection

1. Are you afraid of failure?
2. Are you a perfectionist?
3. What is the main thing stopping you from stepping out on faith and taking a chance.
4. Is it fear?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Pray through every answer, whatever it is on your heart today bring it to God.

I love you, take a chance and have faith in God. Share this with someone. Have an amazing day or evening, and make sure you come back tomorrow for day 114!

Day 86: Recap

It's recap Sunday everyone.

Day 79: Push Yourself

Today we talked about pushing ourselves. Being able to pray for, and encourage ourselves when there is no one else around or no one to call. We focused on the scriptures 1 Samuel 30:6, and Philippians 3:12.

"We also have to push ourselves when we are tired, when we are ready to give up, when it’s too painful, when everything is telling us to quit. We have to push ourselves. If we want that blessing, if we want that life of eternity with Christ, we must push ourselves to keep going even when we think we can’t take it anymore."

Day 80: But...

Today we talked about the hope in 'but..', when we see this word in a sentence we know that it's not over, there's more to come. We focused on the scripture Psalms 31:14.

"There’s always a but, there’s always an answer. But we have to look up from our sorrow and our heartache and the bad situation we are in and look to where we will find hope."

Day 81: Burdened with Sin

Today we talked about carrying the weight of sin and not being held down by our iniquities, and knowing that just because we are born into sin does not mean we have to stay in sin. We focused on the scriptures, Psalms 32:5 and 31:10.

"We cannot allow our souls to rot in a sinful hole because we are too shameful or too embarrassed to go to God, or we’re too full of pride. We all sin, believe it or not."

Day 82: Comfort Zones

We talked about comfort zones today and how detrimental they are to our spiritual growth. We focused on Joshua 1:9 and 2 Timothy 1:7.

"What keeps us from stepping outside of those comfort zones many times is fear.... Most of the time it’s fear... All of the time it’s fear. We are afraid of what will happen, where we will go next. But we must know that God is on the other side of fear. As long as we have faith in Him, as long as we have a relationship with God there is nothing to fear."

Day 83: A Step in the Right Direction

Today we had a guest writer, a friend of mine Alex Molloy. Talking about going in the direction God has laid before us. We focused on Proverbs 3:5-6.

" In order to commit to the God direction for your life, you must first submit. Submit to commit! Living a life where submission precedes direction results in God making all your paths straight."

Day 84: An Anchor for My Soul

Today we talked about being unshakable and unmovable as Christ is the anchor for our souls. Focusing on Psalms 46:5.

"Essentially we are the boat and God is the anchor. The water, wind,  and waves are the things getting in the way. The things that would move us if we did not have a strong foundation in the Lord. We are living in a world where the wind blows every which way, and very strong winds I might add. We live in a world where the current of the water is constantly changing. If we do not have something to hold on to or something to ground us we will get thrown from place to place, position to position, and find ourselves picking up and starting over for the rest of our lives. If we do not find something to keep us still, we will move every time the wind moves, we will float away with the current. But when our souls are anchored in Christ we are unmovable, and unshakable."

Day 83: Comfort Zones

“Everything you want is on the other side of fear”

- Jack Canfield

Joshua 1:9

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

We as people love our comfort zones, we love routine, we love knowing what is going to happen and when it’s going to happen. We can rest knowing that something is certain, we find peace in our contentment. We get so complacent in these comfortable places  that stepping outside of them is frightening. We are so wrapped up in our own comfort that we get stuck there. It’s like we’re closing ourselves off to a world of opportunity. Comfort is sometimes crippling, because we don’t know how to have faith, we don’t know how to trust someone other than ourselves, we lack the ability to take risks. We are at an age where we are stepping out of the comfort zones we have been in our entire lives and taking a risk to live the life we are destined to live. If you’re an artist you probably feel this a bit more. We must learn to take risks, and sacrifice, especially as Christians. We have to be willing to give everything up before we see a replacement, that is where faith comes in. We have to get out of our own circle of stagnation. It is only when we step outside of what we know that we start to learn, it is only when we take away the comfort that we grow. Last week we talked about taking a leap of faith. Well in order to take that leap of faith we have to step outside of our comfort zones. We all have to go through a time when life is uncomfortable, and that may look different to each of us, but as we grow we start to find comfort in the Lord. As we grow in Him we start to live fearlessly and courageously. It says it right there in the scripture be courageous, have no fear, don’t be dismayed. God is with us every step of the way. He commanding us to be courageous and strong.

2 Timothy 1:7

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

What keeps us from stepping outside of those comfort zones many times is fear.... Most of the time it’s fear... All of the time it’s fear. We are afraid of what will happen, where we will go next. But we must know that God is on the other side of fear. As long as we have faith in Him, as long as we have a relationship with God there is nothing to fear.

I can tell you from experience that God has done more for me outside of my comfort zones than I could ever imagine. I just had to stop fearing and step out on faith, and He was there and has been there guiding my steps every since. God has taken me places I never thought I’d go. Done things that I could never imagine. All because I decided to step out of my comfort zone. I stopped looking at what seemed certain. I let go of the plan that would allow me to live a comfortable and trouble free life. Being in an uncomfortable position pushed me to not only trust Him, but dive deeper into my relationship with Him. It allowed me to see and understand God in a completely different and new way. It allowed me to see my need for Him. It allowed me to understand that God is in control, He has always been in control and will always be in control.

-Dyamond

Comfort zones are detrimental to our spiritual health, and growth.

Reflection

1. Are you afraid to step outside of your comfort zones?
2. What are you afraid of?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about your fears and then give them over to Him. Find comfort in knowing that He did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Make sure you share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 84!