As I draw closer to God every single day, I learn a lot! Afterall, this is a two-way relationship. So, as I draw near to Him, He’s drawing near to me! (“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…” James 4:8a.) That is an amazing truth that I hope encourages you as well! But with that, there has been some super key moments between me and the Lord that I feel He would like to encourage those around me with. Hence why I made this page, to hopefully encourage you and to show you how AWESOME God is!!
John 13:34-35
Ah! So good! John 13:34-35
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
This has blown my mind! I remember when I read this it was so clear. Like the way we love people around us literally displays Christ! People will know we are christians by our love for one another. Love takes intentionality, we gotta be intentional with those around us. Sure, we have some natural love in us, but! It says “as I have loved you” which means we gotta love them like Christ would! And the only way to do that is being in the word. Spend time with Jesus! You can’t love someone the way someone else has unless you have felt that love. And wow, His love, it is beyond words. When you feel that love it just exudes from you!! It may sound so simple, but when I realized I get that love straight from His word, I never looked back. I learned the necessity of being in His word, and praying, and giving time with Him.To just sit with Him is so sweet. And I pray you’d see that need greater than before too! Because then a different type of love will flow out, and those around you will know you are His disciples, because of your love for one another. 🙂
Jesus Loves you! Hope you have an awesome day.
Psalm 34
Psalm 34
Wow, was I not expecting this Psalm to be so prominent in my life but for the last 3 months it’s definitely been one I cling to. I first started to intentionally read it around our week of prayer and fasting(January) and it begins with how the Lord hears us! And I was struggling with feeling that nearness of God and the beginning of this psalm was just so comforting to me. I didn’t really focus on any other part of the psalm til later. And I realized God had placed this psalm in my life for another reason. Later on in the psalm it says:
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.”
And little did I know I was about to go through a season where I would feel that broken heart. But! God, so sweet, so loving, so kind, already knew that would happen. And He put this verse already in my back pocket ready to grab! One day when I read through the whole psalm I noticed that and was brought to tears with how good God is. Like He knew exactly what I would need to hear just a month later from my first moment with this verse. Every day since I read this verse and cling to those comforting truths, that no matter where I am, He hears me. And all I need to do is seek Him. I can trust Him fully! God is so good you guys!! Like WHAT?!?! Ahhh, so Good. I’d encourage you to take a look at the psalm in its entirety today! Meditate on it, and let the Lord speak to you today 🙂
Jesus Loves you! Have a fantastic day!!
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. “
Wow. Not only does this verse bring great comfort knowing I get a relationship with the God of ALL comfort, but this verse has really stirred up my heart. Every tear, every heartache, everything we have gone through isn’t for nothing! Sometimes when we are in trials it’s easy to see how it affects us and what is the quickest way to get out of it. But this verse shows me the other side of trials. We get to display the comfort God has given us in those moments to other people. Which will be such an opportunity to display the true love of Christ! This verse has really confirmed my calling recently as it was brought up in 3 completely different circumstances one week, and I was able to comfort someone that same week through sharing how God is comforting me in a trial similar to theirs. And it was that week that God was showing me that wherever He sends me, I am going to comfort and love those people with the same love and comfort He shows me. It reassured me that the trails aren’t for nothing. Now I see my trials as new tools I get so that I can relate to people with deeper compassion, empathy, and love.
Jesus loves you! I hope the rest of your day is filled with His joy!
2 Corinthians 12:9
“And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9
HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY!
Who doesn’t love Easter! He is risen! On second thought…. I can think of someone who definitely hates Easter. Satan. Leading up to Easter weekend I started to experience some terrible anxiety, that I hadn’t struggled with for over 3 years now. It was physically difficult and led to 3 panic attacks that week. I could have been focused on those gloomy moments, but instead, that verse really came to life for me…
At that moment I realized, it’s not my strength. It can’t be! It must be Christ within me. I was physically unable in my own strength to get myself out of these moments . But God truly gave me the strength I needed every time. Each time all I needed was to pray and allow that dependency on the Lord to deepen. I have grown so much closer to the Lord in these moments recently because it has taught me how to depend on Him and Him alone. Not on people, or my own strength, but in Christ alone. When Sunday rolled around I was nervous, I started to feel shaky on stage, but the SECOND I heard that guitar strum a physical peace fell over me that calmed me and all I could do was worship! In all instances of the panic attacks the conclusion was to worship! Because God is so worthy of our worship! Whether I worship is NOT up to how I feel. But what I know. And I KNOW God is good, He is kind, He is worthy, He is patience, He is longsuffering, I KNOW I can trust Him. So I depend on Him and Him alone.
Jesus loves you! Choose to worship Him today! Give that sacrifice of praise. He. Is. Worthy! Have a blessed day!