He Brings Us Through It All

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

Philippians 4:6

Source: minutemanups.com

If you are anything like me, there are times when it feels like the worries of how I am going to make it through the next week or month become overwhelming. These thoughts consume me to the point that I cannot enjoy the blessings God has planned for the moment I am living in right then. For me, most of these worries revolve around finances and how to juggle the funds around to pay for each bill or the unexpected repair or the forgotten field trip money due date.

This is not the first time in my life where I have felt that I am living day to day and I am sure it will not be the last. However, looking back on all the times of struggling to make ends meet, I have realized that there is one thing that is constant and reassuring. God brought us through it. He provided everything we needed in each situation, but something just as amazing is that God gives us just enough. He gives us what we need for each situation, for each day, but He wants us to rely on Him every single day. What would happen if God gave us everything we wanted or needed for the rest of our lives today? We would begin to feel that we didn't need Him. Why pray to God when He has already given us everything we need or want? 

When you feel like you cannot get ahead, maybe there is a reason. God wants to be with you. He wants a relationship with you. He wants you to come to Him every day and ask for the things that you need. He will provide for you every day, every single time. It just may not be exactly what you expected, but He WILL bring you through it. My life is living proof of it and I am sure if you look back on your life, no matter what you are going through right now, you can see all of the times you have struggled before and guess what? You are still here. That is God. He did that. He cares for you and He brought you through it all.

It is an amazing revelation when you realize that God really has brought you through every struggle you have had in your past. He is faithful and worthy of our praise and trust. It can be hard to put all of your trust in someone's hands other than your own. Sometimes we cling to situations because we want to be in control, but the reality is we are NEVER in control of everything. God is. He is the God of the universe. He created all of it. He is in control and trust me, He knows what He is doing. 

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future.'" God promises us that His plans for us are good. It is the choices we make and our sinful nature that brings the bad things into our lives. By God's amazing grace and unfailing love, we can have hope that when we put our trust in Him and rely on Him good will come out of every tough situation. So, don't be anxious. Focus on God and His word, put Him first and an incredible peace will fall upon you when you realize that the King of the Universe is in control. He's got you in His hands. He WILL bring you through.

My challenge for you today is to think about struggles you may have encountered in the past and reflect on how God brought you through them and worked them out for your good. Pray to Him and thank Him for working in your life and bringing you through every hardship.

If I can pray for you in any way, please let me know. I would be happy to do so. Send me a message using the contact form or if you have my personal contact information via Facebook or phone number, you may send me a message there as well.

Rejoice in the truth of Christ, today!

A Servant's Heart

"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."

Ephesians 5:21

My husband and I praying with Pastor Joe at our wedding in October 2016.

The past few days have led me on a journey to discovering what this verse and the two verses that follow really mean for me. Every time I read the word submit, I get a really bad taste in my mouth. I believe that this is a result of how our society in today's world views this word. The world's definition for submit is to give up everything that makes you who you are in order to be able to cater to the needs of someone else. God's definition for this word is so much different. Submit, as it was used in the Bible, means to have a servant's heart and put first the needs of others.

I was primarily studying these verses as it applies to the roles of husband and wife within a marriage. It is truly beautiful how God created man and woman to compliment each other and provide for the needs of each other within the context of a marriage, but the verse above, which preceded the verses about family submission, applies to every one. God wants us to submit to each other out of love and respect to Jesus and what He did for us.This means submission within and outside of the family. We are to submit to each other in a way that shows love and servitude in our daily lives with everyone we come in contact with.

My husband will tell you, with him, I can be very opinionated and outspoken. This is not something I am proud of as it relates to our marriage. Each day, God is giving me opportunities to grow in this area and to trust my husband's leadership. In this way, I am also having to grow in my faith of God's authority and leadership. It is a challenge that I am faced with each day, but it is one that I know will only bring good to the life that my husband and I are building together. 

Sometimes, it can be so hard to follow the selfless example Jesus gave us. We are humanly inclined to be selfish. To think of ourselves and our needs first, as I mentioned in my last post about loving on others who are hard to love. It may be easier to be selfless when we are dealing with family members who we know love us. However, I know I have been guilty of feeling bitter when when it feels like I am doing so much more for my husband that what he is doing for me. That is the selfish self-talk that Satan uses to derail us from living on a right path with God and with our family. He uses situations within our own households against us. 

My plan is to be more aware of when this is happening, pray for God's voice in my heart rather than Satan's, and to realize that my husband has a different role than I do. It is not his job to do all of the things that I do I was doing some research while studying these verses and I came across something that really clicked with me. It was talking about how Paul, in these verses, was describing how each person in a family has different needs and how God created each person to satisfy these needs for the others. It said that children need instruction (provided by the parents), women need to feel cherished (provided by the husband), and men need to lead (provided by the submission of their wives).

My challenge to you today is to think about an area or relationship in your life where you need to be more submissive. Ask yourself How do I feel about this? Am I bitter? Do I truly have a servant's heart in this situation? Pray and ask God to help you to have a servant's heart as it relates to your relationships with others.

Rejoice in the truth of Christ, today!

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Second Chances

"If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?"

Matthew 5:46-47

Source: Pinterest

Last night, I had a genuinely God-given opportunity to speak life into someone close to me who had been going through a really hard time. He shared with me the struggle of getting back on track to having a right relationship with God. He also shared with me how difficult it had been for him to gain people's approval and trust back after making the choices that he had made, mainly that of his own family members.

I truly felt that the words that came out of my mouth to him during this conversation came straight from the Holy One himself. I said, "I loved you through all of it. I may have been sad or disappointed because I didn't want to see you having to go through what you did, but I was never mad at you and I loved you the entire time." When someone repeatedly makes the same poor choices and hurts you over and over again, our hearts become hardened and it is so challenging to forgive. We think, I have forgiven this person once already, do I really need to forgive them again? What's the point? They're just going to keep doing it again.

We are humans and I think at some point, we have all thought this, but this is not the example Jesus gave to us. How often was He caught spending time and showing His love to those who had done wrong and had hurt Him? Ultimately, He was doing just that when He suffered and hung on that cross. We put Him there. Every sin that we have committed put Jesus, the only sinless man, on that cross and He did it WILLINGLY because He loved us that much! How amazing is that?

It is true that many people are in the low, hopeless places that they are in because of their own choices and actions. We know all actions have consequences. However, which do you think is more powerful and will bring more glory to God...turning your back on that person and judging them for everything that they have done wrong or loving that person through it, being there for them, believing the best in them when nobody else will? 

Judging someone based on their past and the actions they have done (and maybe even continue doing) will only push them away from the joy and fulfillment that only Christ can provide. God uses us as tools to speak life into these people who need Him the very most. Don't turn your back on them. Love them, through all of it. After all, we have ALL made mistakes and choices that we are not proud of. Everyone needs a second (or third, or fourth, or fifth...) chance at some point. That's when we can make the biggest difference in someone's life...when we give them a second chance, a chance to do what is right, a chance to have someone believe the good in them.

In Matthew 12:31, Jesus commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Many times when we turn our backs on those who have hurt us and continue to hurt themselves or others, we are doing it out of self-preservation. We feel that we have worked hard for the things we have, why should we help those who don't work hard for what they have and continue to make the same choices that led them to this place to begin with? We do this because we are thinking of ourselves and the needs that we have, but Jesus wants us to think of others in this same way. If we want something good for ourselves, we should want that for others as well. We don't usually want bad things to happen to ourselves, so we shouldn't want bad things to happen to others either.

You may disagree with someone for the choices they are making or the things they have done, but those things do not change the fact that they are still a child of God, just like you. God loves them through all of it and He would love to use you to show these people in need just how  much He loves them.

My challenge to you today is to ask God to soften and open your heart to loving on others who are not easily loved. They may not love you back, but love them. Send a kind text to them just to let them know you are thinking of them or when someone tries to spread rumors or gossip about them, try to help by saying that you don't really know what they are going through and they may be doing what they are doing for a good reason. Be a light for others today. Show them the love that God has in store for their lives. You may be the only one who is showing love and kindness to that person today.

Find the joy in the truth of Christ, today!

Press On

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 3:14

http://www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-an-award-reward-and-prize

It has been a while y'all, but my heart has been with you readers the entire time. Many things have happened during the past two months that have led me to writing this post today. I am so excited to share this with you!

We all have goals. Whether we sit and write them down, talk to our friends or family about them, or just think about them in the depths of our minds. We all have something that we are working toward at any given moment. For me, there are usually several goals swirling around in my mind that I am constantly working toward. I have recently had the goal to survive my second year of teaching (and I did!), to lose 25 pounds (only 1 pound away) and to become a mother (more of a long term goal). I tend to be a very goal driven person, though, and sometimes I have to remind myself to enjoy the moment I'm living in now because my eyes are constantly on the goal ahead.

There are times when my mind is so focused on the goal ahead that it feels unattainable and I become extremely discouraged my normally positive self-talk becomes negative and dark. Yes, we need to be aware of the attitude we have when we have goals, but goals are a GOOD thing. As Philippians 3:14 tells us, we need to PRESS ON toward the goal set before us.

God calls us to work for and achieve earthly goals, but in everything we do and every goal we set we cannot lose focus on the one, most important goal. The goal of reaching heaven to spend eternity in the presence of the one Most High, the creator of the universe, the one who loves us so much He would come to the world to suffer and die for us. That is our true goal and when we have achieved that goal by accepting Jesus as our savior and striving for a relationship with Him, we will be rewarded the most amazing, eternal prize. Jesus is our prize!

My challenge to you today is to write down one or two goals that you have been thinking about or working toward. Then answer this questions, how does working toward this goal glorify God?

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Find the joy in Christ's truth, today! 😉