| My One Year Anniversary was on September 27th! My boyfriend bought me 3 wonderful books. 1,000 Gifts, The Best Yes, and You and Me Forever. Ironically enough, I got him a book too, Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias. I started with 1,000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I've heard great things about this book. I have the version with the book and the devotional. This Devotional is all about opening your eyes to God's gifts. His goodness is undeserved, but often goes unseen and unappreciated. Even though God is an eternal and all powerful being, he cares about the day to day things in our lives. My life yields most when I yield most to Him. "Whatever you do, the practice is intended to be a way of cultivating a habit, of learning to live praise, to make gratitude and joy your default, to move thanksgiving away from a holiday to a lifestyle--that all the days might be holy and set apart for real joy." [pg246] So today I'm counting my blessings; literally counting them. All the times God whispers, "I love you", "I made you for a reason", and "You are my wonderful daughter with an eternal inheritance". Here it goes... 1. I had the time and motivation to workout. My body feels great and I feel accomplished. Thank you God. 2. I went to my last Spirit Chapel ever at SBU. It was great to just sit and watch all those wonderful people have fun. It brought me a great sense of peace that God is still working on this campus and He is still present. Thank you God. 3. One of my students at HisKids asked me the difference between being saved and being baptized. I got to explicitly explain the processes of both. Thank you God. 4. I got to pray over my HisKids students. Every week I get to reassure them that God is present and always available to them. Thank you God. 5. I got to talk to Lucas [my boyfriend] over the phone several times today; it's rather rare we get to talk this much. Thank you God. 6. At my church's Wednesday night college bible study, worship was dope, and I got to feel God's presence in that place. It was a humbling reminder that Jesus is my salvation. No good works earns me a spot in Heaven; only His atoning sacrifice and His blood. "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29 It is finished, and I can rest in the peace that Jesus has saved me and that I will be restored to my eternal glory in the age to come. Thank you God. 7. We also studied the Doxology Hymn. My favorite version is to the left by My Epic. Thank Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. So those are God's gifts to me today. God you are amazing and I am unworthy. ---Kyla |
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"Is there some part of your life which you are refusing to surrender at his behest, some sinful passion, maybe, or some animosity, some hope, perhaps, your ambition or your reason? If so, you must not be surprised that you have not received the Holy Spirit, that prayer is difficult, or that your request for faith remains unanswered. Go rather and be reconciled with your brother, renounce the sin that holds you fast--and then you will recover your faith! If you dismiss the words of God's commands, you will not receive his word of grace. How can you hope to enter into communion with him when at some point in your life you are running away from him? The man who disobeys cannot believe, for only he who obeys can believe." [Page 73]
Faith is not the consequence of our obedience, but the gift of Him who commands obedience. God's plan for us is better than we could ever imagine. He has brought me out of the darkness and into the light. So when He tells me to do something why do I feel inadequate? Is it not God himself who lives in me? "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." -John 15:5 When we feel separate from God it is because we refuse to give Him ALL of our life. We are not being obedient to what He has already commanded us to do. When Jesus tells me to clean the bathroom, I clean the kitchen. Then I ask, "Is this good enough?" "Look at this great thing I did for You!" But I didn't do what He actually asked me to do. Instead, I made my own condition. I justified my own way. This leaves me separate from God and feeling empty. When I read page 73 of The Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoeffer, I began weeping, knowing full well that I have not been obedient. Faith only becomes faith in the act of obedience. I am renouncing the sin that holds me fast, so I can enter communion with The One who makes me whole! |
AuthorI am a follower of Christ Jesus. I enjoy the simple.
Occupier of the Midwest. Introvert, but not shy. This is where I go on about the bible, movies, books, clothes, crafts, and anything else. Learning what it means to have a servant's heart. Teacher, Seminary wife, reader. behind the name:Jesus is the lamb of God. He was a sacrificial lamb that was slain for us. Jesus himself tells us to pick up our cross and do what he did. I long to be a lamb, able to lay down my own selfish desires and wholeheartedly follow Christ. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said when Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. I am learning to die to self daily.
I write because I love sharing ideas. I write because the internet needs more beautiful and things and more gospel truths. Here are some references from the scriptures: Revelation 12:11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death Revelation 5:11-12 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 1 John 2:6 Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Archives
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