Journalings from April 2022
April 1, 2022
God desires us to be in communion with Him. To do so we must learn to live above our circumstances. Circumstances can control and dictate our lives unless we choose to live above them. Allowing circumstances to drive your life can lead to a life of stress and disappointment. We are to trust in God to guide us and not let our circumstances steer us.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
We may want an “uncluttered” and less busy life so we can communicate with God uninterrupted and make it easier to live above our circumstances. But the idea of living in an uncluttered world is just a dream. It’s not reality. “Accept each day as it comes and find God in the midst of it.” Where is God in your to do lists? In your jam-packed day? Are you making margin for Him in your life?
We often judge the success of our day by how many tasks we complete. If things remain undone, we feel like failures. But this is a lie. “Do not let your to do lists become an idol directing your life.”
A successful day is having God front and center of your life, staying in communication with Him, and allowing His Spirit to guide you throughout your day. It’s ok if dishes or other tasks remain undone. That doesn’t make you a “failure.”
Acknowledge that some days, months, or years are just going to be harder than others. At the end of the day yesterday, I was feeling pretty burnt out. It was almost 9pm and I was still working on getting Alita to bed. I started thinking of all the little things I still had left to do (laundry, dishes, shower, etc.) then spiraled into the bigger things (construction at our house, months left before it’s done, how much more it’s costing, inflation, and all sorts of things I didn’t need to dwell on in that moment). In that moment I was not living above my circumstances. I was letting them dictate how I felt and control me. I started to cry as I let my circumstances overwhelm me. Then suddenly an inner voice prompted me to pray.
I listened and as I wrote about two days ago regarding the devotional, I cried out to Jesus saying that I trust Him and I asked Him for help in that moment to carry me through.
So often we say that we trust God and it’s easy when things are going well but often fail during life’s difficulties. The devil will use life’s difficult circumstances to make us doubt God. When we are in the midst of a storm, we tend to let the waves knock us around and focus on the storm, and not on the one that can get us through the storm or command it to stop.
“And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but He was asleep. And they went and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And He said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” (Matthew 8:24-26)
My problems and stressors did not suddenly disappear when I put my trust in God but He lifted me above them. I saw things clearer and my eyes were dried. Suddenly, the stressors that were causing me to feel overwhelmed didn’t feel so overwhelming anymore. I felt stronger and better equipped to handle the waves rocking my little boat.
I think it’s good to practice being lifted above our circumstances no matter how small and silly they may seem. God isn’t bothered by our need for Him. He’s not just there to help you when things are really hard. He’s there for all of it. If you are able to give the little stressors to God and learn to rise above them, you’ll be that much more prepared to have your eyes focused on God when the hurricanes of life hit. Our circumstances may make it look like there is no hope, so don’t look to these, look to the God who is above them.
“So we do not lose heart. Though our
outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For
this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory
beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the
things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the
things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
April 3, 2022
I have spent the last week removing rocks and debris from our yard as we prepare for topsoil and then grass. It’s been a lot of work. To start, a bulldozer came through and got rid of the big stuff, next we flattened the yard with a drum roller to push some of the rocks down, then we went around hand picking and digging the larger rocks out of the yard and threw them in a pile. We’ll deal with that “debris” at a later time. The topsoil should cover most of it and then we’ll plant grass on top.
The Jesus Calling devotional for today talks about God removing the debris and clutter from our lives so we can experience Him better. Some of our rocks were pushed down in our yard. Even though we cannot see them they are still there and may work their way up over time. God works to remove all of our debris. He doesn’t bury any of it or sweep it under the rug. He removes it completely.
To start this process, we should focus on the big things in our lives. If you’re a born-again Christian some of these areas that need removing may be obvious. These are the areas that need bulldozing. But if you’ve been a Christian a long time, some of them may not be so obvious. They may be like the rocks lying hidden under the surface in our yard. It will take some work and conscious effort to uncover them.
At church today our pastor spoke on the Church in Laodicea and their lukewarm Christianity. We do not want to be lukewarm Christians. We may think that since we don’t need anything materially or physically then we are doing fine. But this is not how we are to gauge our spiritual life. If things in life are running along pretty smoothly and comfortably it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking you are good spiritually since your outward life is all put together. But debris may be lying just under the surface that needs removing.
Don’t judge the success of your spiritual life by how well your earthly life is going. A big house, fancy car, high paying job, are not measures of success in God’s eyes. If you have these things, it does not mean you are not spiritually ok, just that we do not judge our spiritual lives by these things.
While we do spring cleaning this time of year, let that be a good reminder to also take the time to uncover any debris that needs removed in your life.
“As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)
April 6, 2022
My reflection on the Jesus Calling devotional for today April 6, 2022:
Before sin entered the world, “thankfulness was as natural as breathing.” I don’t know about you but some days it takes real effort to feel thankful during difficulties. God isn’t wanting us to be thankful for our difficulties but to have a thankful heart and find things to rejoice over even during trying times.
In the Garden, through Satan’s tempting, Eve began to focus on the one thing she couldn’t have and as a result couldn’t see all the good around her. She was lacking nothing but Satan convinced her that she would be more fulfilled if she could have just this one more thing, the forbidden fruit.
Eve succumbed to temptation. Instead of feeling fulfilled, the opposite happened. She lost everything. I’m sure upon reflection she realized Satan’s lie and could see how good she truly had it. But her life was changed as a result.
I don’t know more about Eve’s personal struggles, but life got a lot harder for her and Adam and all humanity. I would hope that she was able to see her failure and learn from it and never fall into that trap again. But I don’t know. Once sin entered the world, the human heart changed and being thankful was no longer as easy as filling our lungs with air.
When we focus on the things we lack, or the situations that we wish were different our mind becomes more negative. When we focus on negative things, it begins to feel like everything around us is negative. Nothing goes right. We have it so much harder than everyone else. It’s like putting on dark glasses. The light is all around you, but all you can see is the darkness.
It becomes easy to “move the goal post” and take for granted the things that once you were so thankful for. Thoughts like, “I’ll be happy when” and fill in the blank, when I get this promotion, buy a house, etc. can rob you of having joy in what you already have. Always looking to the next thing doesn’t cultivate a heart of thankfulness. Maybe at one point you thought if you just land this job, you will be happy. But you aren’t happy. You’ve been at the job for several years, a job that you worked so hard to get, and all you can see are the negative aspects, long hours, long commute, annoying coworkers, boring, the list could go on and on. That feeling of thankfulness that you first had has now been transformed into apathy. Or the house you thought you’d never own but now have, suddenly doesn’t seem so great. Your friend’s house seems so much nicer.
When Levi and I were newly married and I was fresh out of college, he worked installing granite. I remember him telling me about the houses he would install granite for and we both thought we’d never be able to afford a house with granite! Flash forward 6 years from that day and we bought a house that had granite! We were both so amazed and kept pinching ourselves that we actually had a house with granite! I never want to lose that mindset of thankfulness even over small things. I don’t want what was once a dream in my younger days to be taken for granted as I get older.
A house is just one example, and we shouldn’t focus solely on material things either. Perhaps it’s the sun shining, birds singing, or a child’s laugh that can evoke a feeling of thankfulness. Or fitting this time of year, a reminder of something we should never take for granted, the gift of eternal life we have in Jesus. That no matter what is happening in the world around us we have hope. The world may be in disarray around us but we know this is not all there is and that’s something to be thankful about. We can be thankful we have a forgiving savior who allows us to start anew each day. When we mess up we can be forgiven and the slate wiped clean.
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
I don’t think it’s necessarily easy to always be thankful. We are imperfect beings, but the more you practice it the easier it will become and the better you will be at spotting things to be thankful for.
April 10, 2022
Today’s devotional from Jesus Calling encompasses Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” I’ve always liked this verse but in context. If you haven’t read that verse, I would encourage you to read it starting at verse 18 for more context.
We may not be able to see how our circumstances, especially during tragedies, fit into God’s plan for good but we are called to trust Him, to trust His plan.
We misunderstand this verse when we think, “all things work together for MY good.” Everything will work out for HIS good not mine. We don’t get to decide what the good is or looks like.
If you asked your spouse if they loved you and they responded with “sometimes” how would that make you feel? Yet believers often do this with God. When things don’t go the way that they think it should they walk away from God. We are called to have faith in His plan even if we don’t get to see the fruits of it in our life time. We may never know why we are going through what we are going through until we meet Christ in death.
God is able to use imperfect people, people who sin and make mistakes to further His plan for good. If you have read the Bible you know in the end God wins. Good triumphs over evil. Hold onto that faith in the trying times. This doesn’t mean God will heal your wounds in this lifetime, but He sees you, cares for you, and has a plan for you if you love Him.
I have already been able to look back at difficult times in my life and see the good that resulted from these seasons. Sometimes we go through pain, hardship, and suffering so that the greater good that God is working on in this world can be accomplished.
Sometimes the good comes in just being able to walk with people who are going through the same hardships you endured. You can point them to the one who gave you strength in your weakness.
A few years ago, my previous Pastor, Chris Larsen, gave some pointers if you are really struggling to see the good in a situation. First pray. Keep crying out to God and allow the Spirit to speak for you when you don’t know what to say.
Second, when you can’t see the good, Trust. Don’t just go to the negative, the God’s mad at me stage. God is always present. He always loves you and is always working even when you can’t see it. So, trust Him.
Third, when you can’t see the good, choose. Choose to serve and trust God.
Joshua 24:14-15 says “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
God is always faithful to you but He isn’t here to serve or please you. We have a choice. We can choose to serve God or someone/something else. We all serve somebody or something. Joshua is making a choice, “But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”
Christ gave His life for you. He can be trusted in every facet of your life.
April 12, 2022
Throughout Exodus we continually see a cycle of thankfulness and grumbling. God brought His people out of Egypt, His hand was visibly at work in doing so, yet the moment Pharoah changed his mind and pursued them they cried out to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?’ For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” (Exodus 14:11-12). Moses told them to “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord…The Lord will fight for you.” (Exodus 14:13-14). As the Egyptians approached, God made a way where there appeared to be no way, He parted the Red Sea so they could walk through it. The people believed in the Lord. Shortly after this miracle, the people began grumbling again about having food to eat. So, God rained down bread from heaven. The grumbled about water and it was provided via a rock. This cycle continued over and over again.
When difficulties arise, and they will, make the choice to trust God in all circumstances. It takes effort of will, we are after all sinful, imperfect beings, but God has given us the free will to choose. I would argue it is easier to choose the path of grumbling and complaining, to view yourself as a victim of your circumstances, to blame God when things go wrong instead of whole heartedly trusting a plan that makes no sense to you. Matthew 7:13-14 says, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” When you reach that fork in the road between grumbling and trusting, which road will you take?
April 14, 2022
“Heaven is both present and future.” When I think of the word heaven, my mind is immediately drawn to things future, things not of this world right now. Maybe you see pearly gates, a throne, a perfect kingdom apart from our world. Revelation 21:1 says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.”
Whatever thoughts come to mind about heaven what today’s Devotional is saying, is glimpses of it can be found on earth. God is with us. We do not need to wait to for Heaven to experience Him on earth.
The powerful rushing of a waterfall, the sun renewing the earth in spring, birds singing, glimpses of Heaven can be found all around us.
Today, (well technically this will refer to yesterday when I post as I’m writing this at night, so a day early), was a busy day and by the end of it I felt mentally exhausted simply in managing a normal day’s events with the kids. Levi is on shift which always makes it a little more tiring. But nothing was out of the ordinary, I didn’t take on anything extra, and the kids weren’t any more unruly than “normal”. But at the end of the evening I felt tapped out. I decided to pick up my devotional and read it a day early. As I sat, focusing on the message, the feeling of mental exhaustion started to melt away and was replaced with a sense of peace and contentment. Thinking about all the ways I saw glimpses of God’s hand today, makes it so apparent that heaven can be experienced here on earth. I don’t mean Heaven in the “when you die” or “when Jesus comes back” sense, but simply that our Creator’s hand can be seen all around.
There are just so many ways we can see God’s hand woven into our day to day lives. Even when we feel burnt out, even when we look back and think the day was a failure, we can change how we see our day by just looking for God in even the minutest of details. God is all around us and He can bring comfort and peace, but it’s up to us to look.
Only God knows when we will leave this world and be with Him in Heaven. But He is with us every step of the way on our journey. So while we wait, make a conscious effort to look for Him in our world everyday, to seek first the Kingdom of God. Keep that at the forefront of your mind.
“Ask, and it will be given to you;
seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who
asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will
be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8
ESV)
April 16, 2022
“Live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) This verse stuck out to me today, the day after Good Friday and the day before Easter. Today is known as Silent Saturday, the day between Jesus’ crucifixion and before His resurrection. This must have been a very dark time for His followers. Their King had died. He was laid in a tomb. His followers were afraid. Hope was gone and it looked like evil had won.
Though Jesus told His disciples many times what was in store for Him, they couldn’t grasp exactly what He meant. When He was being lead to the cross His disciples fled. It’s easy for us in the future, to look back and wonder why they lost faith so easily? But I don’t think we would have been any different. The one who had come to save the world was dead. How could they give thanks for this? Where was the hope? Good Friday was anything but good. It was a terrible time for believers.
But on Sunday everything changed. Christ rose from the dead. Everything Jesus had said prior finally clicked. Hope was restored. Their faith was renewed, and not just for those living then, but for all of us, for all time. Because our Savior lives, we can have faith in all circumstances. Not even death could defeat Christ.
“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16)
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20)
Wishing you all hope and renewal this Easter!
April 19, 2022
I don’t know who needs to hear this today, but God’s love for you isn’t dependent on how well you are performing, or think you are performing. We measure “success” in distorted, finite, human terms. But God loves us no matter how badly we think we are performing. He doesn’t compare us to anyone else. I know it can be hard not to judge yourself based off of your perception of how other people are doing. It can come in subtle ways. Perhaps you woke up Monday morning and jumped on social media only to feel like you didn’t do “enough” this Easter Holiday. Maybe your Easter baskets weren’t “Pintrest” worthy, if you had any at all. Maybe your family Easter photo didn’t turn out as you wanted and your kids acted like normal kids in them. Maybe you can’t afford that new car, house, or big vacation. Maybe you don’t work a “prestigious” job. None of that matters in God’s eyes. He doesn’t judge successes the way we do. You are worthy of His love. Nothing you do changes that.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8)
And the reverse of that is true, no matter how exemplary we think we are living we all fall short.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23)
I’m not sure if you are familiar with the parable of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15:1132. In the parable, one son runs off and blows his inheritance and messes up. His folly is clearly visible. He ends up in a pigsty as a result of his foolish behavior. He comes back to his father and is welcomed with open arms. For many reading this parable, not much thought is given to the elder son. But he is just as sinful as the younger, wayward son.
His sin however, isn’t as obvious on the outside. He lives an exemplary life. He follows all of his father’s rules, he works hard, he doesn’t “screw up.” But his sin is that of pride, of thinking he is better than everyone else. The younger brother is deemed “bad” by conventional standards and by these standards the elder brother is deemed “good,” yet both are alienated from the father. The elder brother is sinning because of his perceived goodness. His pride and self-righteousness is creating a barrier between himself and his father.
He believes he ought to be blessed because he is good and obedient. If this is your view of Jesus, then He may serve as an example or inspiration to you, but He is not your Savior. You have become your own Savior. It’s easy to define sin in light of the wayward son. He broke the “rules.” But sin is not just breaking rules, it’s putting yourself in the place of God, of thinking more highly of yourself than you ought. The elder son has a strong sense of superiority and harbors resentment toward the younger son when he is welcomed back into the family upon his return. He didn’t have to do anything to earn his way back into the family and this infuriates the elder brother.
This elder brother lostness is just as dangerous and the wayward son lostness. People with this elder son lostness, don’t see that they are alienated from God. They don’t turn to God as a sinner because they see nothing wrong with their condition.
So,
whether you think you are falling short or are striving to be worthy of God’s
love, remember God’s love is a gift. It is unconditional. We all fall short,
even the “elder sons.” Once you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior you are
His. There is nothing you can do to earn or lose this. You are bought with a
price. Your salvation cannot be taken away from you. Cast your burdens and
anxieties on Him and accept His unfailing love in its place.
April 22, 2022
My scattered writing for today.
“Listen to me continually.” Right now the only thing I am hearing continually is the voice of my 3 year old. She’s in quite the sassy, whiny mood so it’s definitely not a sense of peace that is enveloping me. I definitely need the help of the Spirit to tune out this distraction!
All joking aside, being able to tune out distractions does take discipline and help from the Spirit. Tuning out some physical distractions can be easy. Like the barking of a dog outside, the drip of water from a faucet, a toddler saying look at me for the 1000th time or why for the millionth time. But I think God is talking about more than mere annoyances or inconveniences here. He’s talking about the bigger distractions, the things in life that might cause you worry, anxiety, or stress. The things that can pull you away from having complete trust in Him. It can be hard to tune these out especially when they come in the form of taking care of basic needs.
Matthew 6:25-33 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It has been one of my favorites since I was a child. I was never lacking for love or basic needs but as I got older I realized we were “poor” by societal, financial standards. This verse always brought me comfort in knowing that no matter what your situation is, God cares for you. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
I’ve never known homelessness or hunger. So my trusting in God for these provisions hasn’t been tested in the fire and I hope it never is, but I know that during trials, whatever form they come in, we should not try to take it all on ourselves. Having a community of support can be a big help during trying times. But internally, we should rely on the Holy Spirit to help carry us through.
“Cast your anxieties on Him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7 ESV)
Just because you don’t have “big” problems that are threatening your survival does not mean you don’t have heart issues that need addressing or areas in your life where you need to relinquish control.
Before having children, I never thought I struggled with control. But after having kids I soon realized how little control I had and I quickly discovered how much it bothered me! It takes discipline to relinquish control, even with the little things.
“A mind preoccupied with planning pays
homage to the idol of control.”
Have you had days where it seemed nothing you wanted happened? And you feel your frustration boiling up because your day isn’t going how you think it should? I know I have. When these days happen I can feel guilty because I am getting upset over something minor when I know there are people in the world with far bigger problems. There’s the expression of “first world problems,” where your problems pall in comparison to those of people suffering around the world. Even if we are “only” dealing with “first world problems,” God is wanting us to get to the heart issue underlying these stressors. Why aren’t we turning to Him in all circumstances, great and small?
He calls us to turn away from the idol of control. If you don’t have kids reminding you daily how little control you have over doing things exactly as you want to, these past two years have taught us just how little control we have in our lives. The only constant I’ve found is God. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
The only guarantee we have in this life is death but if you
have accepted Christ and what He did for you on the cross, you have hope. His
resurrection gives us hope of what is to come. This life is not all God has to
offer. So relinquish your worries, your anxieties, your desire for control on
to Him and step forward into living life abundantly with Him.
April 26, 2022
I feel I am a very patient person until my patience gets tested. Haha! When things in life are moving along nicely, with very little waves to rock my boat, I’m able to handle these little waves with ease.
But how do I react when bigger waves hit? When my boat is constantly being rocked. Not very well I’m discovering. We are currently building a house and living in a small two bedroom apartment where Levi and my bed is situated in the living room. And like most, we’ve dealt with a lot of external stressors from the world these past two “pandemic” years. If I took away these things then perhaps the battle I’m dealing with would be small, but for me, right now, it feels huge. It’s probably a “straw that broke the camel’s back” scenario.
I have been dealing with a constant battle every morning to get my kids out the door and to school, or anywhere, on time. It seems nothing is working. My frustration has just been growing and growing. I take away privileges, fun things, they have consequences, but I don’t see any results. When we arrive late, I’m angry. The whole morning is becoming a stressful routine (more so for me than them). But after I drop them off, I usually feel disappointed in myself. I feel remorse about getting so upset over something that really is so small in the big scheme of life.
After reading today’s devotional, the lateness problem is serving as a perspective-lifter for me. Being late is not what is really getting to me, it’s the lack of control I feel over something so small, something that I feel I should be able to control but I can’t.
When I know we are going to be late, there isn’t anything I can do to change the outcome, there isn’t an immediate solution. I cannot stop time, so the outcome of being late is guaranteed. There’s no getting around that. In that moment I have a choice of how I want to respond. My response can either take me up or down. Today, I took the later. I definitely lashed out at the difficulty instead of allowing the problem to be a means to see my life from God’s perspective.
I may have taken the angry, destructive, self pity approach this morning but as I am reading today’s devotional, I am trying to climb above my problem and look at it in light of God’s presence.
Our being late to school over and over again, my feeling disrespected when my kids don’t listen, and the inability for me to have control over the situation, really are small and momentary problems when viewed in light of God’s kingdom. Seeing them through God’s perspective changes everything. How could I let something so small have such great control over my emotions? It happens to most all of us. But the way forward is to seek higher. I could feel sorry for myself, feel like a failure, like the worst mom ever, or I could go to the One who really sees and knows me and not deal with my struggles alone.
After turning to God and really reflecting on my own heart issues, I feel like a weight has been lifted. I’ve figured out today’s problem. I’ve got this! My mind is telling me that no matter what comes at me I will use this advice and do better next time. Realistically however, I know I will fail again. I will stumble and sin over and over again, that’s just a part of being a human living in a broken world.
“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:15, 18-19)
It’s not very encouraging to think about the negative. You will fail. You are not perfect. But there can be something freeing and comforting in this. No matter how many times we fail God is there to envelope us in His presence when we turn to Him. He is there to see us through our difficulties. There is nothing we can do to earn His love. He is always there.
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)
April 29, 2022
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)
All that we are and all that we have belongs to God. If you woke up this morning that is a gift! Don’t take it for granted! You are here for a reason. You are loved and God has your life in His plan.
“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14)
If you are caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life and don’t really feel the same way, I encourage you to slow down. Focus on what is important. You will always have times of difficulty. Whether small or large, stressors are a part of life. In fact they are a guarantee. The one constant we have is God. God is everywhere, waiting to be found, and He brings peace.
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Don’t let your circumstances, routines, or difficulties rule your life. When these difficulties arise, keep them in perspective of the One in control. Our earthly world as we know it is fleeting, but where we put our trust is eternal. Live for Christ, make Him Lord of your life, for this is eternal and nothing on earth can separate you from eternity with Him.
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)
April 30, 2022
“When some basic need is lacking consider yourself blessed.” Wow, does this ever seem counter intuitive. It’s very hard to feel “blessed” when you aren’t seeing physical blessings. When you aren’t living in abundance. When everyone else seems to be “more blessed” (i.e. bigger house, newer car, etc.) than you.
But God’s idea of blessings aren’t the same as ours. God calls those who hear His word and practice it blessed.
Luke 11:28, “Jesus replied, ‘But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.’”
He considers those who have gone through hardships to be blessed. Those who morn or are persecuted, all these He calls blessed.
Matthew 5:2-12 says, “And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Having earthly possessions is not a bad thing and we shouldn’t take it for granted, but it’s not the standard for us to gauge how “blessed” we are. So often we read social media posts about a raise at work, a new job, new house, having “perfect” children, etc. with #blessed, added to the post and feel that maybe in some way we aren’t measuring up in God’s book. We must not be doing something right because so and so is “more blessed.” Let me tell you, that is not the standard God uses. Can God give blessings in that form? Absolutely, but just because someone doesn’t have these things does not mean they are blessed any less. Our spiritual blessings far outweigh any physical blessings we can receive. You might be poor by societal standards but we are all rich in Christ. When you look at the gift Christ gave us on the cross and the alternative if He didn’t offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, we should consider ourselves extremely blessed. We have been redeemed through Christ.
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)
The next time hardships come your way, or you are lacking in some way, don’t jump to the conclusion that you aren’t “blessed.” Use it as an opportunity to continue to rely on God and draw closer to Him. We should be doing this at all times, in the good times and the bad.
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
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