christian

Beautifully Desperate

bible, christian, Christian lifestyle, encouragement

“For she said, ‘If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.'” – Mark 5:28

One of the most overlooked feelings, I have come to notice, is desperation. In a world constantly promoting independence and self-sustainability, being desperate is often one of the last ways a person would probably hope to be described as. But in the eyes of a God wanting nothing but the best for their child, no characteristic could be so critical.

There once was a woman with a hurt that seemed to have no end. Day after day, year after year, her illness remained persistent, but so did her humble heart. The moment that the Messiah was rumored to be passing through her town, she did what she had to do to reach Him. Even if it was just for a glimpse.

With the crowd growing and the judgment of those around her, knowing the unclean illness she had, this was no easy journey, but it was one that she believed would result in a life-changing blessing. She was desperate for the presence of God and she refused to allow the people or circumstances around her keep her from experiencing it.

I heard this quote the other day that said what we truly need is “an expectation that is willing to wait in His presence and a desperation that is willing to take action when He says to move.”

Chills. I know. And what a beautiful picture we see of that exact posture as we unpack this ill woman’s story.

With every step came concern and anxiousness, I am sure, as there is always the thought of rejection deep in the mind of those who act in desperation. But this was different. Within moments, a far away glimpse turned into a gentle contact with the One that so many have proclaimed to be the Messiah. What was once known as life was divided into the past and made into a new thing. In an act following her inward desperation for God and all the good things that He is, she was healed and freed from the identity society gave her as the “sick woman”.

Because of Jesus, she walked with a new name. Her steps were light as she allowed Him to take up her burdens. In her great desperation, came a great redemption.

My dear friend, there is a never ending supply of grace and freedom in the hands of Jesus. But until you empty your own hands and choose the humble path of a soul desperate for it’s maker, you will never give yourself the opportunity to experience that awe-striking presence of God.

As NON-self-sufficient as it may sound, a desperate heart after God’s own is a posture that one should pursue as long as they breathe.

Back to the Heart of It All – restoring God’s authority over His blessings in our lives

christian, Christian lifestyle, encouragement, lifestyle

“Return to me, and I will return to you.” – Malachi 3:7

This topic of returning has been pressing on my heart for a while. As I tried to plan out my content for this month’s blogs and future projects, there has been a heavy message weighing on my every decision.

In the midst of trying to bring hope to those God placed around me, I realize I may have gotten lost in the mission rather than the One who sent me.

I came to this thought as I was desperately praying for God’s direction in a completely different area of my life yet was reminded of the “work” I do for Him through this blog and other media content. I am not going to lie. I was a bit frustrated. I simply wanted an answer to my current problem, not growing anxiety over the one thing in my life that in all honesty, I felt pretty confident in.

But that is just it. In this one concern I prioritized, I was living out 1 Thessalonians 5:17 as much as I could, but regarding my “work” for Him, the prayers were far and few between as I got used to developing the content I needed whenever I was scheduled to post something. I no longer saturated this area of my life in prayer like I used to. And before I could be shown an answer to the part of my life that I was so focused on, God reminded me that His priorities come first.

These blogs were not meant to become “work”. They were meant to unify, encourage vulnerability, challenge, and express compassion to those who read it. Yet I strayed into the perspective of “I can write a post really quick, so I will do just that.” My first fruits no longer went to God and what He called me to, but rather, to my own greatest concerns.

In Malachi 3, God speaks of His open arms to the Israelite’s as well as their rejection. He brings up the way in which the people of Israel chose to give their tithes and offerings to their own priorities rather than to Him. And because of this, they strayed from the One they used to so passionately serve “in former years” (3:4). Yet He did not give up on them. Instead, He reminded them of His consistent love and forgiving heart (3:6). And because He remains the same, so do His promises to those who choose to live for Him.

In verse 8, He straight up states the way in which the people of Israel have strayed. Their first fruits were misplaced. Yet He follows it with a path to redemption and a promise of abundant blessings in verse 10. Isn’t it so beautiful to witness the overflowing heart of forgiveness our God has? Not only does He forgive our rebellious pasts, but He gives us a hope for a future we cannot imagine through the glorious plans He has in store (Jeremiah 29:11).

My dear friend, I believe this is exactly what we miss in the rush of life. Between the expectation’s the world lays on us, the goals we set for ourselves, and the responsibilities we have no choice but to carry, we lose sight of where our first fruits must be. And to the busy soul, “that is just life”. But that mindset could not be more detrimental to our faith.

There is a hope unimaginable and a peace incomparable that God provides to those who come back to the heart of what He designed them for. I think it is easy to take something He has blessed us with and build our own vision for it’s future, but may we be challenged to remind ourselves of our authority as stewards.

In verse 7, God says “Return to Me, and I will return to you.” This is a requests followed by an undeserved blessing. But do not mistake God’s “return” as if He left. That which He is returning to you in this promise is the blessing of experiencing Him as a cleansed heart. No longer do we have to be bound by the weight of what we see as important or the goals we hope to achieve, because ultimately, what we have is not meant to be lead by our own vision. Because of our mortal minds, our vision for our lives and the work we do is limited by our human perspective. When God says return to Him, it is not because He just wants control, but because He knows that when we follow the purpose of our design, we flourish the most.

So fellow Christian, may you remind yourself that being a Christian is being a follower of a Christ. And being a follower of Christ is being a steward of the blessings He gives, not the one in control. May you be reminded to come back to the heart of what He called you to be and do. And may no fear, anxiety, pride, or judgement stop you from doing so.

This blog was built on prayer and surrender to the vision of God. So as we move throughout the weeks and more posts are published, I am excited to see where God leads as I restore Him back to Lord of this blog, my vision, and every breathe from now on. I lay down the desire to be trendy for the mission of being transformational again. My dear friend, I hope and pray you continue to follow me on this journey of pursuing Christ together. It may be hard, but it is beyond necessary.

In The Waiting – resting on the faithfulness of God when the future is unclear

christian, encouragement, lifestyle

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised, is faithful.”

-Hebrews 10:23

What I have come to realize is that you can make your vision board, build new disciplines, and focus all of your attention on the thing you are passionate about. But if it is not in God’s timing for you to be at a specific point in life, no amount of work can push you past His sovereignty.

You may meet people, get jobs, or get great opportunities through your hard work, but you know when it is not the door you have been praying God opens. Sometimes, or maybe if you are like me, a LOT of the time, the goal we seek to reach is often standing at the end of a long marathon of everyone’s favorite thing…waiting.

Believe me, I have been there. And in all honesty, I am still so far from the end of that great marathon I believe God is walking me through. Of course there are many blessings God reveals along the way. But what I speak of now is the period of time between the big dream and the actual experience.

Normally, my way of coping my anxiety and lost hope in these moments is through reminding myself that God is a God of seasons. And if I really feel like He is calling me to something, I believe eventually the flowers will bloom again. But lately, this strategy has been having a hard time giving me lasting peace. And thankfully, God seemed to have noticed because just the other day, He smacked me with a mountain of truth that left me in complete awe.

“I will believe I can know peace without knowing what comes next.” – Morgan Harper Nichols.

Maybe this quote doesn’t quite knock your socks off. But after enduring what has felt like forever of door after door shutting in my face, leaving me with nothing but confusion and growing insecurities, this hit deep. And just before I heard this quote, this one topic kept coming up around me: We cannot afford to live without being in awestruck wonder of God. Every. Single. Day.

But in order to capture the depth of that thought, we must first understand the verse above. This one verse speaks in three different tenses.

“Let us hold fast…” is in present tense. It is an instruction for what to do right now with the hope that God gives. “He who promised” is in future tense. Pointing to the statements of power and experience that have yet to be revealed in fullness. It is also offering the place where you find the hope it previously directs you to “hold fast” to. Lastly, “is faithful” is in past tense. This tells how the glory of God has already been expressed and has been proven credible.

But what truly drove me to this verse was the order in which it was written. It provided wisdom for the present and a peace for the future by reminding you of the past.

As the creator of time, God knows how it effects us. He knows that it grows us, but also limits us. With time being so powerful over our mortality, isn’t it such a blessing that God reveals Himself to be even more powerful over time? I would argue that although the present and future take up a large part of our concerns, it is often the past that drives our anxiety because we do not want the bad moments to find their way into impacting our limited future. Maybe you use the past as a growth opportunity or maybe you cannot seem to get over it. Regardless, its authority in our lives is undoubtedly influential.

What is truly beautiful is how God reveals Himself to be present in all 3 tenses, but it is the past that He uses to build our peace. The past is the only tense that will remain consistent. Nothing you do now or in the future will effect what has already happened.

Sound familiar? I am immediately reminded of the picture of God’s love. Because of what Jesus has done on the cross in the past, my present and future are covered in His grace because regardless of the changing seasons, His love was portrayed on Calvary and nothing I do can change what has already happened.

This my dear friend, is why reflecting on how you are left in awestruck wonder of God every single day is so critical to how you handle your future. As you force your eyes to seek God’s glory, regardless of your uncertain future and confusing present, you will still have a peace to abide in.

I don’t know if you caught it, but the quote from Nichols above is actually a statement in which she is aiming to discipline herself to, not a statement of how she naturally is. If you want to be at peace even when the next step in life is as foggy as can be, you need to steward your thoughts towards that which reminds you of the glory of God.

Waiting is hard. I am not going to pretend like it will be an exciting experience even after you build a God-glorifying mindset. But there will be a difference when you begin prioritizing a perspective reflecting God’s own. That invisible yet monumental feeling of being content in your present and hopeful in your future is captured in 5 little letters; peace. The peace of God is what allows us to focus on every moment and it’s great potential as anxiety bows and striving ceases.

I am sorry if you have been waiting for something for a long time. I really am, but acknowledging the burden of waiting on our own strength is the first step towards a peaceful freedom. So do not lose hope my friend because the faithfulness of the One you find your peace in has never and will never change. It is not temporary happiness nor numbing despair that will make your waiting season reveal it’s great purpose. I pray that the comfort of Christ meets you where you are in that long, long marathon so that the journey towards the finish line may become a part of the faithfulness you can look back on in the future.

Rest in His peace because He who promised is faithful indeed!

Realign me, oh Lord

bible, christian, Christian lifestyle, encouragement, lifestyle, prayer, Worship

Living in a society that pushes us to “follow whatever your heart desires” can be exciting but oh so very dangerous. As followers of Jesus, we claim to have made the decision to give up the world and follow the God who gave up His son. But often times, we only truly follow that claim to an extent…

With a heart longing for excitement, we let our spiritual boundaries get stepped on, tip toed next to, and even sometimes crossed behind the excuse of “it wasn’t that bad”. But that is not how God called us to live. He didn’t design safety rails in life so that we could hang off the edges. As He is the literal embodiment of all things good, joyful, loving, kind, forgiving, compassionate, etc. We can bet on His boundaries having something to do with His desire for us to stay close to Him and away from everything evil, manipulative, vengeful, and so on.

Though sometimes intriguing and easy to fall into, the “harmless sins” in life are honestly anything but harmless. The one command He emphasized in the new testament was to love God and love people. A life spent loving God cannot be truly lived while intentionally flirting with sin.

So in this new year, may this be our prayer. May we long for a heart so hungry for God that we feel uneasy at just the thought of splitting our attention between Him and the world. May we humbly ask the Holy Spirit to rid our hearts of anything and everything that does not glorify God as we desperately thirst for Him to fill us up. May we look at every part of scripture for what it is; the living, breathing word of God and may it enrich our souls so much so that we feel weak after just a day spent away from it. The enemy may be no match for our Lord, but on our own, we stand no chance against the things he throws at us. We need revival. We need redemption. We need a spirit made new. So my dear friend, please never forget amidst the pleasure of life…we NEED Jesus. And I mean ALL of Him, not just on Sundays, but in every second of every day. Consistently live for a soul that prays this over every step, breath, and thought throughout your life.

Made to Worship

christian, Christian lifestyle, encouragement, lifestyle, prayer, Worship

Towards the end of 2022, I began this infatuation with a few phrases. I forced myself to memorize them in an attempt to prevent myself from falling back into my old ways when I would feel upset. And one of those phrases was “Made to Worship”. This phrase caught my attention when I first saw it printed on a sweater while scrolling through instagram. And after that, I have run into signs, stickers, and other posts stating those very same 3 words.

As I contemplate the kind of changes I hope to make this year in order to accomplish my “new years resolutions”, I find this phrase running laps in my head. Made. To. Worship. So simple yet so powerful. It is a phrase that gives us identity, purpose, and hope.

Aiming to pursue a Christ-like character while trying to balance the responsibilities God has given me, I have often found it easy to stumble into seeking my identity through my success or status in things like my blog, school, or social life. But this phrase, I would argue, captures the message of WHO we are to God and why things like our successes, failures, titles, or awards have no place in determining our value. We were simply made to worship. Not to become rich, or have the best family, or be the valedictorian, or have the most friends. Not to say those are wrong, but that’s not who we are. We are children of the one true God who sees us as free, loved, chosen, cherished, and beautiful. Who we are ought to be based on the identity our Creator gives us. And honestly, I believe that can be described as a beloved worshiper in every circumstance and every new day God brings us into.

Yet our identity is not where God stops. He proceeds to go deeper in our value so that we may see ourselves through His same lens. He gives us purpose. A reason to keep going. To keep cultivating life. Though our individual journeys can be completely different, we collectively have the same thing driving us. We have been given the purpose of worshiping God in all we do. Through every season, we have the responsibility to praise Him and bring glory to His name. When we begin living with the mindset of “how can I fulfill my purpose by glorifying God today?”, we begin living in the most prosperous way. It no longer remains all about you or the goods you can store here on earth, rather, it becomes truly Christ-centered. This kingdom mindset is not just a great lifestyle, it is essential to living in the way you were designed. You were made to bring glory and worship. It is your purpose and embedded in the very core of who you were made to become.

What a beautiful life it is to live humble yet confident in the fruit that you produce simply because you rest assured in the faithfulness of your Creator. There is an overflowing well of peace that floods the hearts of those who live a life dedicated to following their purpose because of their identity. In 2022, life felt like it went up, down, and even in some spirals. To say the least, my circumstances changed an unimaginable amount of times. But one thing that remained the same was who God was to me and who I was to Him. The consistency behind His character and design allowed me to collect these random phrases I would find, like “made to worship”, and be confident that their meaning was timeless. Meditating on the word of God is a spiritual discipline EVERY Christian ought to implement in their lives. These day-to-day reminders may seem a bit agitating and in some cases, the last thing you want to hear during a trial, but my dear friend, it is worth everything. As we begin to see the world and ourselves more and more like God sees it all, His beautiful plan becomes so much more exciting to follow and reliable in the hard times. It is just the beginning of His limitless hope.

In the new year, people tend to seem most inspired. This is the time where journals, planners, and anything related to working out is at its peak selling point. Why? Because to most, having something to live for is important. It gives value, joy, and peace in knowing we have reason behind our breath. So as you enter into the first few weeks of this fresh start, hunger for spiritual growth. Seek to develop the habits and mindset to praise in every scenario. Dear Christian, you are made to worship. May you see that as an honor instead of a responsibility this new year.