Not about blessings

Thinking about the Sermon on Sunday, and something I read this morning made me ask myself as Christians do we do things for rewards? Sunday Marty pointed out that following Jesus should not be about just getting our sins forgiven in hopes that one day we can get to heaven. Its not about us and what rewards we can get but it should be about following him. I than started to think do we do things to receive blessings? Although God is the ultimate giver and delights in blessing us, do we solely worship the blessings? Do we desire what God can do for us or what we can do for his kingdom?
I'll be bold enough to say that most of the time we are always thinking about what the benefit is for me. Rarely do I find people that don't have some sort of selfish motive for the things they do even if they are good. We can get so caught up in doing things to receive blessings that we don't remember the greatest commandment.
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, The Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The is no other commandment greater than these." John 17:21
J-Jesus
O- Others
Y- You
We shouldn't desire God because of the things he can do for us, we shouldn't love others to get something out of it, and we shouldn't put our self before anything else. Jesus called us to love him first, and than others second. It is not about us, and our selfish needs and desires, we shouldn't follow Christ to satisfy our self.  We should follow him because we love him so much we want to glorify him. Christ promises that when we make him the desire of our hearts and wait in his presence we will enjoy the greatest gift of all: Christ in you, and the hope of Glory!

Be strong against the devil's schemes!

Ephesians 6:10-11
" Finally be strong in the Lord, and in his might power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."

The devil trys to scheme and push into our lives in a way that most of the time we are not even aware of. He puts unhealthy thoughts into our minds that effect the plan God has put before us. He is very sneaky in the fact that he works one small thing at a time till it becomes one big thing. He thrives on ruining the good things we have going on in our life. We have to always be aware and have the armor of God on to make sure we think of things that are good and honorable. The way to make sure to protect ourselves is to be in constant conversation with the Lord. To ask for protection against the thoughts the devil puts in our minds, and the way he tries to scheme into our lives.The devil attacks as soon as he sees a weak spot in us, and when we are doing good things for God's kingdom. So we must never put our guard down, and always be be equip with God's mighty power.

Letting Go

This past Sunday the part of the Sermon that stood out to me was letting go of things that we some times hold so dearly. I will not say what I am letting go but man is it something big. Its Thursday and I'm finally saying ok God this has got to happen. I'm scared to let it go because its something I have held onto my whole entire life. I have thoughts of what will I do without this, can I make it on my own, is this really what you are calling me to do Lord? But I have know this is what must be done in order to fully let God take control of my life.  In order to let go of this thing that is precious to me, I have to rest in his presence, where I am complete. Slowing relaxing more and more, and letting go of my prized possession to his care. I can feel secure even in the midst of of these changes, through the awareness he is always there. The one that never leaves me is the same one who never changes. I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. Releasing more and more I know he never lets go of my hand. I am secure in that no one, or no circumstances can ever take that away for me.
"For I am the LORD your God
   who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
   I will help you." Isaiah 41:13

"And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light" (Colossians 1:10-12, NIV).

One day at a time

It is VERY hard for me not to look to the future and worry about tomorrow. I have always disliked surprises, we are talking DISLIKED. I really don't understand the joy of not knowing whats next because it does not appeal to me. Honestly its hard for me to trust because of the deep wounds I have gotten in my past. During these times I have to remember to stay close to God, and be responsive to his will. He is helping me with his gentle touch. I love to understand everything but sometimes that can distract me from him. He promises to equip us to get through this day victoriously if we live in deep dependence on him.
Tomorrow is busy worrying about itself; don't get tangled up in its worry-webs.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

Waiting, Trusting, and Hoping

These three things are all interconnected. Believe me I have felt at times that Im just going to wait forever for God to do something because his time is not my time. I have gotten frustrated, and lost all trust and hope but that is not what our Father wants from us. Trust is the most important thing he wants. It seems that no matter how many times God has followed through with his promises I still lose a little trust sometimes. How can this be? He promises that if we commit ourselves to him, he will act.

Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.

—Psalm 37:3-6

 

I even have found myself not trusting him with the little things, anxiously trying to make things go my way. I know his ways are better than my ways, but in a society that is now, now, now I get lost.

 

The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
The Lord is on my side as my helper;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.

—Psalm 118:6-9

 

Keeping my eyes on him, waiting for him to work and realizing he will protect me gives me hope. Hope that the he holds my tomorrow, and if I wait and trust his plans are better than my own.

 

For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

His Strength

I often find myself living safely, making my plans and goals on what I think I can do. I forget that when Christ gave us his Spirit he empowered us to live beyond our natural ability and strength. We can not measure our strength to what may lie ahead. It is about his strength not our own, and his strength is limitless. When we walk close to him, calling on him he will renew our strength.
1 Chronicles 16:11Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always
Isaiah 40:28-31
 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Cast your burdens

Almost four years ago the greatest thing came into my life, he had beautiful blue eyes and was perfect. I never knew I could love someone so much.It was April 11^th 2007 a day that new life was born not only my first beautiful nephew but my own. We received the call in the middle of the night the moment we had been waiting for nine months. My sister had went into labor and they were headed an hour and a half away to the hospital. I didn't ever expect that being an aunt would be so rewarding. The day that Reid Allen Estep was born changed my life forever. Not only was I an aunt now I realized that I had someone that was going to look up to me.Since I was still living at home I was able to watch him a lot for the first few months of his life. Taking care of another life, and loving someone so much that you would do anything for them was new to me. I was scared the first time I had to change a green diaper, and afraid for awhile that I could break him. Looking back I wouldn't change those experiences for the world. It made me a new person with a different outlook on life. It was the first time I realized this life is not about me. Reid taught me selfless love, he now has a beautiful brother Parker that I love just as much even though I didn't think it was possible.  The reason I'm writing about this is because Parker has been in the hospital the last couple days, and I have been hurting for the little guy. All I wanted to do was go and get the shots for him, I wanted to take away all the pain so he didn't have to carry it.
It got me thinking about that is exactly what our Father in heaven does, I couldn't take Parker's pain away even though I wanted too but God can. He takes it all away.

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall not permit the righteous to be moved.” (Psalm 55:22)
 
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all of your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7)
 
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

I never will be able to fathom the love our father has for us because the love I have for my nephews does not even come close. Just remember he wants to take it all, he sent his son who he loved for you! So that you could live an abundant life with him forever.

Come just as you are

This song has been in my head all day. My devotional today was about not earning God's love by our performance. We live in a world that is all about performance, we are happy when someone accomplishes some task.If you serve in church your a good christian, if you do a good job at work your boss is happy, Dad's smile when their daughters look pretty. Because we are constantly preforming we roll this over into our views of God. I know I have often thought I need to preform to be accepted and loved by him. That could not be further from the truth. He simple loves you because you are his, not because of anything we have done or will do. So come as you are, and see he loves you for you no matter what you have done.

Problems

Everyday we face problems some are big, some are small. Although at times many things feel random and wrong we need to remember God is sovereign over everything. He fits everything into a pattern for good, but only if we trust him. Every problem we face teaches us something, and molds us into the masterpiece he created us to be. The very same problem that teaches us something can become a stumbling bock if we allow it, reacting in distrust and defiance. We have to choose many times each day to either trust him or defy him.
If we thank him for our problems it can open our mind to the possibility of benefits from our difficulties. Tell him and he will embrace them with his loving presence. He won't necessarily remove them but his wisdom can bring good out of each and every one of them.
^26-28Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.  Romans 8:26-28 The Message

Voices

Lately I have had a lot of voices telling me different things. Everyone seems to have their views on my life, and I really have been fighting with hearing God's voice. We have to learn to discern what is his voice and what is not, we can do this by asking him to give us discernment. We often run around trying to obey the various voices directing our lives. Believe me this can lead to frustration, and fragmented patterns of living. Don't fall for this! If we walk closely with him each moment listening for his directives and enjoying his companionship we will not.

Ephesians 4:1-6

 ¹ As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ² Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³ Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.