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saved by the wonderful and precious blood of Jesus. all He ask of me is to run the race that is set out before me and make disciples of all nations. with His strength, ALL things are possible. =)
So here goes. I feel like the beginning of blogs are always awkward and hard to start. Ok, maybe that’s just me. Well anyways…Today I turned 20. 2 decades. 7304 days. 175,316 hours. You get the idea. It’s kind of crazy. In my head it feels like nothing has changed but to actually say “I’m 20 years old” out loud is so weird. I remember being twelve and saying “I’m almost a teenager!!”
As we get older, yes our bodies change and we get wiser, but I feel like our minds kind of always stay in that youth area. Well I hope I can stay that way as I get older =) Maybe it’s a generational thing. Ask me at age 60 how my mind is, ha.
Ok this may be a lot, but bear with me =)
Looking at how many days I’ve been alive got me thinking: How many days have I actually lived the way God wanted me to. You know? How many days did I obey what He commanded me to do? Walked in confidence through a rough storm? Cling to the freedom that we have in Him because He died for us? Thank God in every situation, good or bad? It kind of hit me hard that we seriously need to take each day like it’s our last. I know that phrase can be a cliche, but it’s absolutely true. Christ could come back at ANY moment. Are you ready? Are you right now following God’s will? I’m not saying that if you aren’t and He comes back that you won’t go to Heaven; I’m saying: are you living in the way Christ wants you to (so that you experience His joy to the full and embrace His amazing love for you)? If we have that mindset every day, our conversation, thought, and actions would be completely different. I know for the most part, I don’t. We are selfish human beings and need to be reminded to pick up our cross daily and die to ourselves. I get in the habit of being comfortable. If we are truly following the Lord, we should be out of our comfort zones. Pray and ask for situations that will push you and make you realize that you need to rely on His strength to get you through.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.” John 15:5
Look at the last part. “..apart from me, you can do nothing.” Nothing. Not one single thing. We get to a place where we hear this and remember to lean on Him, but give it a week and you’re back to, “I got this..” attitude and it becomes a vicious cycle. I do it all the time. I’m working on it. The Lord LOVES when we come seek Him. He’s waiting with arms wide open. We need to run full blast and stay in His love and abide in it. Remain in it. I picture it this way:
God’s love is always pouring down. Think of a waterfall. We understand His AMAZING love for us and stand under it and His presence completes us with His fullness of JOY. Then a rough storm comes along or we forget or we get distracted by the world around us and the things we don’t have or we feel “far away from God” and end up stepping out of that downpour. God’s love and peace is always and forever flowing, but it’s our choice if we are going to step back under the flow. Make sense? Who is the one that moved away? Us. Not Him. He never strays from us. We are the ones who pull away. STEP back into His awesome and never ending love. I realized I’m kind of all over the place here, but I just get so happy and full of Him when I remember that Christ is seated at the right hand of God defending us and interceding on our behalf. Satan is constantly reminding God of our sins and how “bad we are” but Christ is immediately saying, “No! I know what they are going through! I saved them! They are mine! My blood covered ALL of their sins. I DIED for them. I became like them in every way so that in the end I could save them. Nothing can separate them from my love.”
“For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Hebrews 2:17-18
Wow. It just puts me in awe. Our wonderful Savior. Redeemer. Hero. Amazing Love. Father. =) It just makes me smile!
So sorry about the novel. I’m not usually a writer. This whole blogging thing is hard in the beginning =) I just really want everyone to see how important we must live each day FULL OUT for Christ. I pray that we would not fall into the comfortable pattern of this world, but daily pick up our cross, die to ourselves, and do the will of the Lord.
