(Day 6 from 31 Rays of Hope)

One of the hardest life lessons that I have been taught is that you must always be prepared for change. After all it is the only thing constant in this world, aside from God’s love.  Well, I write taught but continuously learning this with each and every day (we all are works-in-progress, you know).  In an instant your circumstances can evolve into something that you did not foresee, whether it is pleasant or dreadful. The only way to truly be prepared is to have accepted  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  risen  Son  of  the  only God and have the Holy Spirit reside in your heart. Why? Because it is only God who knows the past, present, and future; only He can guide you and direct you in the path you should go. He provides strength [1 Chronicles 16:11], direction [Psalm 37:23], security [Proverbs 1:33], and knowledge, and understanding [Proverbs 2:6-9]. He alone has promised “never will I leave you, never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5, NIV).

To those who are reading this that have not yet invited Jesus in their hearts:
“For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His  only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,  but  have  everlasting  life”  ( John  3:16,  KJV).  I pray that the Holy Spirit calls out to you and you answer His call…that you one day know this verse to be true.

To  those  who  are  reading  this  and  have  accepted  the free gift of eternal life:
May you seek the will of God in your everyday lives and walk in His light. May you know what His will for you is and be eager to spread the knowledge of Jesus’s saving grace to all that you meet.

Dear heavenly Father, thank You for providing peace through the storms of life. Though there are just a handful of noted verses above which are meant to invoke the Spirit and mind, there are so many more in Your holy Word, Your letter to Your children.  May  we  find  rest  in  You,  Father, during all times, knowing that as Your children You always have our best in mind, and You rule, always have and always will, in Jesus's name we pray. Amen. 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Know someone in need of a little hope? Send them a Loved and Blessed box today!

This month I received quite the blessing, as you may or may not have seen yet, Loved + Blessed (a monthly faith based subscription box), included a copy of 31 Rays of Hope this month. To say that I am grateful, excited, and humbled does not begin to cover it. I am in awe of what the box is doing for people across the world, and I am joyous and expecting that the words penned in the book will inspire hope, and foster a better connection with the Creator of the world to those who read it. I’m an actual subscriber to Loved + Blessed, and surely do recommend you check it out for $10/month as a lovely little pick me up and truth reminder of His word. Not to mention a portion of the proceeds from the box go to helping the homeless (bonus!).

Growing up I was always told a hypocrite was one who “said one thing, and did another”. Quite the blanket statement, but as believers, we could all be grouped into this category, even-though we are continuously eager to be more aligned and in step with the Perfect One. Right?

I mean the biblical moral advice that we give to others, may always be more on point than what we do in our own lives. Eh? Recently, I heard a preacher as to go so far, as this is one of the reasons we should keep personal opinions and advice to ourselves, lest we don’t look like such. I’ve even gone so far as to say to friends after hearing that, do you want to know what it seems is the best option or what I would probably do that isn’t the best way … how about I just share both (as admittedly I have had no problem spewing commentary in the past). Now I find myself sometimes just telling them (who are believers) to seek God for the answer because He ultimately knows better than I, and I honestly don’t want to be included in the Matthew 23 version of the word. Alas, as Paul shares in Romans 7 we can all be a bit backwards at times. 

Broken Hallelujah by phasingirl on DeviantArt

But even so the first topic washes over the second and breaks way into a hallelujah, as in Christ alone our hope is found! There is an abundance of grace, forgiveness, mercy and love awaiting everyone all thanks to the Creator of the world, shown through the actions of His Son, and through the comfort of His Spirit, and just the  mere fact that we all taking another breathe in the very moment.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart! I have overcome the world."
John 16:33

May you take a moment this morning, regardless of where you are – what you are doing, just to simply thank Him for all that He has done, is doing, and will do. May peace rule in your life today, and may you be engulfed in His love, apt to show that same love to others. As believers we not only have the answer(s) to this life, but the key to life here-after, for all eternity. Thanks be to Jesus, for by Him alone we are saved and it is in His name we pray.

Now enjoy these bonus tracks that have been blaring through my speakers as of late!

 

Yesterday I shared the above image on my Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. I still think it is funny, and not to mention, it contains mention of a verse, that is in one of my favorite “blocks of verses”, which is fully →

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 3:21-24

Well I received a comment about the photo on Pinterest, and wanted to just felt led to write about it a bit. The comment was, “This is true but I also think that everyone is "perfect" in their own way... like perfect who they are. NO one is really perfect besides God."

As we all know language is changing, not only does a word mean what it originally meant (for years gone by), but in some cases it can actually mean not it actually, but be said for effect - the word literally is a good example. Not to mention I myself use [my own] slang a good portion of the time, so first lets examine what the word perfect means.

Merriam-Websters defines perfect first as, “being entirely without fault or defect".   

The scripture has a whole lot to say on perfection. Apart from Mr. Solomon's use of the word the verses all echo similar chords, how God is the only thing perfect and how "actions" and "thoughts" can be perfected by seeking and aligning oneself to God's will. As I believe it to be true, we (humanly) cannot be perfect, unless we are 100% of God (i.e. we will obtain true perfection in heaven | new earth | aka next chapter) should that "label" even matter then. Sure, we are all unique and awesome [I stand by that 150%], but alas are we ever actually “what we are destined to finally be” since we are “always being improved upon” until we are no longer here? 

The fact that we are not perfect is one of the reasons we follow after Him, so we can be more like Him. And yes, we are “made perfect in God’s eyes”, but that is because God looks at those who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior through blood-stained goggles. The Father doesn’t see our fault, because He see’s what His Son did on our behalf.

Can I get an AMEN?

Now you may or may not know this, but actually my self-dubbed theme song is Perfect, written by Flyleaf and Matt Lewis. If I ever get a chance to speak stadium style, a la Joyce Meyers, I totally want that playing as I walk to wherever my final destination is in the building. Lacey Sturm belts out so amazingly exactly what echoes in my core. Please take a listen. 

Thank you dear Lord for giving us free will, for allowing us to choose You whole-heartedly, even though as a believer I (and many others) may wish our free-will was taken away so we could not fall. However, we thank you for giving us a way back to you, apart from ourselves - apart from Old Testament laws, one based on true love, obedience and grace. We yearn to echo that same love out to the world, may we be shining examples of You (Father, Son and Spirit) to those that we meet. May we seek to build each other up, instead of tearing each other down. May the word perfect not even enter our thoughts, unless we immediately associate it with You. Search us dear Lord, and make us more like You. In the name of your perfect Son, Jesus Christ, we pray. 

Want to read more biblical truth and personal thoughts about perfection?
Check out 31 Rays of Hope [A Month of Daily Devotionals] : Day Twenty-One "Better Than Cupcakes".

Check out my first live interview (from April 23rd) with the awesome people at Alive in Christ Radio, by clicking the banner below.

I thank them SO VERY MUCH for this blessing, may God continue to have His divine hand on all that they do!

Many thanks to mK who is hosting a 31 Rays of Hope giveaway on her blog From The Guest Room.

She is a super fab lady, whom I connected with a few months ago after reading an article she had published in Reject Apathy. Pop on over to her blog to enter (just by leaving a comment) and while you are at it, take a gander at her Etsy shop for some unique creations!

Over the past few weeks, I have been inquiring to a few people what are the three things they are most thankful for in their life right now. I asked this question, because it is something I myself have been pondering, likewise I am curious and it is a great conversation starter. Perhaps this was all some inner self “see how far you have come” in honor of my 29^th birthday (which is now passed, so you all rest as I won’t be mentioning it in another blog for a while – ha), but I have firmly planted my feet on the following, which as my diddy so complimentarily put it two weeks ago, “I am just amazed, as I watch you talk, you are not the girl I raised. You have changed so much, I am more than proud of you” (all be thanks to the glory of God for that change).

#1 : SALVATION

Of course this may seem on the surface as a total suck up response, but I truly do mean it. I believe that what is written here is true, I believe that there is, but one way to heaven and I believe that with out God your life is pretty much worthless (in the capacity of ‘will it count for anything after this age is done’, but yes are beings are of worth, lest Jesus wouldn't have died for us .. just for clarification). So yes, because of this, it is the #1 thing I am grateful for. Without my salvation, well to be honest, I surely believe I would be dead right now.

# 2: FAMILY and FRIENDS

You have heard me say it before, “by blood or by water” (if not then I'm going to venture to say you have not yet read the book), which just simply speaks on how God can bring people into our lives, that while not may be related by blood, still are as close as if you were carried around in the womb together (or likewise if they had given birth/fathered you). The relationships for family/friends can be a lifetime, a prolonged journey or just for a season, but with these encounters we are molded into who we are. They are the people who continuously hope for your well being, hold you up in prayer, and supply a much needed shoulder to cry on in times of trouble.

# 3 : LOVING LIKE JESUS

If you do not know God, you do not know true love, as it is written in 1 John 4:8. Likewise, if you do not know how to love like Jesus, you do not know how Jesus loves you. Over the past two years of my life, I have experienced first-hand how Jesus loves us and I cannot imagine my life being any different now. Through the outreach of myself to others, I have realized how He has reached out to me, how to not be so apt to try to reach for perfection (as it totally doesn’t exists), nor to throw myself in a whirlwind to due a fall (sin) or to cast myself apart from people, because I have some (unjustified) thought that I am “too weird”. Likewise, as it has been shown to me quite recently, through learning to love like Jesus, I actually came upon what may be my own love language (serving/acts of service/serving together). Which admittedly comes as both as a little shock and very welcomed revelation. Perhaps other people have seen this in me all along, and it just took some extra steps toward expressing God’s love wholeheartedly to everyone, without regard for appearance, past failures or current circumstance (etc) for me to embrace it myself.

May you each examine take a moment to examine the things that you are most grateful for. Reflect on the things that God has given to you, think about where you are and where you have come from, rejoice that one day (should you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior) you will be able to bask in His radiance and live out eternity in peace and harmony with “all creation”. 

A few of you may know, some may not be aware, but for the past year I have been working on putting together a devotional book for publish which has come to be titled "31 Rays of Hope". We have now reached the final phase of the process in which the book is being printed and marketing (gah) is coming about. 

Stay tuned for details on how you can purchase the book and book signing events =D