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Ever since I have been a follower of Jesus Christ and have seriously taken my faith to a personal level there has always been something that I have struggled with. I think we all can relate to this struggle as well. 

Spending daily time with God. 

In fact I have always admired people like John Wesley, who have spent time with God every day at the same time and journaled about what God was doing in their lives. It’s a dedication that I have struggled with. 

But its so necessary to our lives. 

We must be in relationship with our creator. 

It should be something that is so necessary that it is directly linked to our very act of breathing. After the word of God is God breathed. 

Almost as if reading the bible is having God breathe more life into our lives. 

I know there are many of you that relate with this and let me just encourage you to commit to that time with our Lord. After all He gave himself for you and I. 

I have started a process to achieve this. I started a reading plan from YouVersion and I would strongly encourage you to go visit that site because the amount of reading plans that they offer is amazing. 

The word of God is must too important to not put in your life everyday. When you do this its amazing how blessed your life becomes. Your faith and love with God will grow with each word you read because the Holy Spirit will guide you, protect you and challenge you, but will never forsake you. 

So lets get reading! 

 

I love Advent Season. It’s my favorite time of year. All the churches are decorated and everybody is preparing their hearts and minds for the coming of Christ! It’s such an exciting time for everyone. 

This year is especially exciting! 

When I woke up this morning on the first sunday of Advent I noticed that I was very excited once again because its my favorite season. During this time of Advent we are encouraged to wait and anticipate the coming of Christ. This is something that doesn’t come naturally to ourselves and I especially struggle with this endeavor. 

As a kid you know you have the calendar on the wall that helps you count down the days to Christmas day and I can remember as a kid being so ancy and impatient, naturally because I was getting PRESENTS on Christmas Day! As I have grown into adulthood (some of you just laughed) 🙂 I have noticed that this impatient feeling has come now to not just presents but in recognizing that want to celebrate the greatest present of all!

God sending His son Jesus to die for all the worlds sins!

What an amazing time of year this is! I pray that your advent season is blessed with blessings that God gives you as you wait and anticipate the coming of His Son! The Savior of the World! 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.

Performance. Proving yourself to whomever you are concerned with is a common action that we as human do. Every part of this world is about proving yourself. Consider the popular tv programs. Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, X-Factor, and even most storylines in sitcoms and drama tv shows alike have a character at some point prove their worth for something or to someone. 

It is quite tempting as a human being to learn that we have to prove ourselves. Even if that means bending the truth a little bit. 

God is not of this world and because of that the way God works is not connected to the way the world works. As I was reading Jesus Calling I was struck by this phrase: 

You don’t have to perform well in order to receive My Love. In fact, a performance focus will pull you away from Me, toward some form of Pharisaism.

You see there is no performance for the Love of God. God made us and He knows exactly who we are and more importantly whose we are, and that is God’s children in Christ Jesus. The grace of God has been given to us as a gift and did you catch the important part of that passage. 

This is not from your yourselves.

There is no amount of performance that can make us worthy of God’s grace, but it is given to us freely! You don’t have to prove yourself to God.

HE ALREADY LOVES YOU COMPLETELY. 

I AM PLEASED WITH YOU, MY CHILD. Allow yourself to become fully aware of My pleasure shining upon you. -Jesus Calling by Sarah Young (Nov 20 entry)

 

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in you inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 

-Ephesians 3:16-19

There is joy in the morning! Today I pray that you understand just how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ! KNOW that this knowledge surpasses your understanding. KNOW that you will be filled to the fullness of God! 

Praise God for his faithfulness to us! 

So, stop performing and start knowing. 

-This is from the devotional, “Jesus Calling: Seeking Peace in His Presence” by Sarah Young-

I just had to share this. Great stuff! If you need a daily devotional I highly recommend this one. You can find it here 

November 19

LEAVE OUTCOMES UP TO ME. Follow Me wherever I lead, without worrying about how it will all turn out. Think of your life as an adventure, with Me as your Guide and Companion.

Live in the now, concentrating on staying in step with Me.

When our path leads to a cliff, be willing to climb it with My help. When we come to a resting place, take time to be refreshed in My presence. 

Enjoy the rhythm of life lived to Me. 

You already know the ultimate destination of your journey; your entrance into heaven. So keep your focus on the path just before you, leaving outcomes up to Me. 

 

I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD;  
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

Psalm 27:13-14 

In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed. 
In your strength you will guide them 
to your holy dwelling. 

Exodus 15:13

 

 

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” -Romans 8:28- 

There are few certainties in this life, but one of them is that you will have bad days amongst your good days. Jesus guaranteed his disciples that they would face persecution as his disciples. 

It’s true. 

Bad things will happen. 

(Enter Romans 8:28) 

I love how Jesus guarantees that this life will not be rosy and perfect and then says “I will be with you always.” Which is exactly why I love the verse at the top of this post. This passage is from the New Living Translation and I love it because of the words that they chose. 

God causes everything to work together for the good. 

There is something about that word, causes that just brings a joyous explosion in my heart. I mean when you are causing something to happen, there is this purpose behind it. Like you are putting your entire soul energy into this action. 

Almost as if God knows that bad things will happen so God is going to put all his energy and strength into working for the good through his children. 

Awesome. 

That’s unexplainable. That’s awesome, and yet that doesn’t even come close to expressing the joy that brings us. There is nothing that can express God causing everything to work for the good. 

So, yes bad things will happen, but take heart. 

God is weaving the goodness of his very soul into your life! 

Praise God!!