I want to encourage young believers to get into the word, and understand God's will for their life. I will be posting devotions, songs, and other encouragement at least once a week.
I have been learning a lot about the power of having my own relationship with God, and not just basing my spiritual walk by the words of those around me. As important as it is to take council in others, it is more important that we take the time to grow our personal relationship with God through the Holy Spirit.
I am encouraging you today, take some time to meditate on this passage and see what God would have you see.
I want to encourage each of you to find time through out your day to just spend time with God. Whether it's listening to worship music, praying, reading your bible, listening to sermons, etc. God just wants to be with you. Your best friends aren't the people that you have never met, or that you never spend time with, they are the people that you spend lots of time with. You learn about each other, and watch the other grow, and you see what they go through, and stand by their side through it.
Each of us has a unique and specific reason for being here today, no matter where on earth or what day of what year it is. God had crafted you, his masterpiece...
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
..., and placed you precisely where you are, to do the good things that He has planned. God doesn't want us to go through our life looking for the next person who comes along who makes us feel loved, because that love is only temporary. God wants you to see that he is here, waiting for you to see Him. That He has a plan for our lives, but we have to be willing to rest in his supernatural love. God is the I Am, He is everything that you are longing to find, and He is right here waiting for you to turn around and fall into His arms of love.
So as you go about your day, remember why you are here, and rest in the Lord.
It can be very difficult sometimes to trust that God is with us, and that He is going to help us through our situation. Recently I lost a friend, not to death but to mere circumstance, and by no fault of my own. Even though I can't help but blame myself and feel like I have let them down. While part of me has been living in a world of uncertainty other bits have followed the example. Instead of only being uncertain of my training time-frame, I am now uncertain in my relationships as well. Uncertain how to help the ones I love and trust dearly. As difficult as this has been for me, it has been more difficult to just give it up to God. There has been a pressure on my of late that I have been unable to give into for fear that I will lose control of the situation. But as I give into it, and give it up to God, I realize that I never had control of the situation in the first place. Nothing in my power could have, or will, changed anything. God is the only one who I can trust to help me through this, and I am trusting Him to do just that.
God can handle your inability to handle what is going on.
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the goodof those who love him, whohave been calledaccording to his purpose.
Psalms 27:1
The Lordis my light and my salvation— whomshallI fear? The Lordis the stronghold of my life— of whomshallI be afraid?
My pastor has preached much on this very subject lately, but when this all happened, I felt completely lost. So my advice to you is; Don't just listen to what others have to say, listen to them and meditate on it, spend time with God over it. Being a Christian is not about being religious and showing up to church, or reading your Bible. It's about being with God, and having a relationship with Him.
Do Something: After you read this, listen to this song and meditate on what God has promised you. Just be with Him, have a relationship with Him.
It is one thing to just listen to what others have to say, and going off of that. But it is another to take what they say and apply it to what God has been teaching you. Today I want you to learn how to hear from God, and to know what He is telling you, not what I am telling you. Take some time to pray before you read this, and as you go, write down some things that strike you as interesting, things that you can apply to your life.
Please leave a comment below; I would love to see what you have discovered.
Here are some questions that may help you see some of the deeper meanings in this chapter:
What reasons could the Spirit have had to keep them from entering Mysia?
What truly caused the earth to shake, and the jailor to be saved?
Why was it a big deal that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens?
Why did Luke make such a huge point of including the woman that were saved?
Why did he (Luke) use first person for part of this chapter?
It’s amazing what spending time with people who don’t point out faults, or dwell on them, can do for a person. This past weekend, I spent time with people that I had only met once or twice in my life and, by the end of the week, you would have thought we had always known each other. I was reminded of who I am, of what I want to accomplish in life, how I need to live life, and how to live life to the fullest. I was reminded that I don’t have to be afraid of what others think of me, I can just be myself, and the right people will love me.
It’s amazing what can come of a relationship built through the love of Christ. There are not words to describe what it feels like to talk with someone who invites you to laugh with them, not just listen to them laughing at you. To stop what you are doing to go have worship and prayer time before heading into a new year. To be able to speak truthfully, and not be making fun of people, to be able to have fun, and also be serious. I can not describe the kind of relationships that I built this weekend, I can only tell you that as you spend time with God, and Godly people, you will build relationships that can be broken by nothing.
This great song is a reminder of just how powerful our Father is. Also reminds me of a post I had about my friend in Ecuador, and how God is the same everywhere.
