What Road Are You On?

People say there are so many paths you can take in life, when in reality there are only two. I know what people mean when they say this though. They are stating that there are so many choices you can make that can take you down so many different journeys in life. But what they miss is that there are only two end destinations. And every choice we make that leads to different journeys will determine which end destination that will be. Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” He is saying that many will follow the path that leads to destruction, because it is wider and easier to follow. But not very many people will take the path that leads to life, because it is narrow and not as easy to follow. The first path is the example of what it is like to follow the ways of the world; it will lead to eternal damnation. The second path is the example of what it is like to follow the ways of Christ; it will lead to eternal life in heaven.

So how can we know which road we are on? To determine this, you first need to know what each road is defined by.

The broad road that leads to destruction can be defined by the ways of the world. This is because ever since the fall of man, back in Adam and Eve’s day, Satan has been on the loose in the world. The devil deceived Eve with the forbidden fruit in garden, so he also deceives us with the ways of the world. He tells us it’s ok to be comfortable in our own little world; that we shouldn’t care for anyone in need, so long as our needs are met it’s fine. He tells us it ok to get what we want, because we deserve it. Even someone else’s spouse. He tells us it’s ok to be selfish and only think of ourselves, because whats more important than having everything we desire? That’s why it is so easy to follow this road. But what we don’t realize is that these things will destroy us, because all these things, and so much more, are defined as sin. When we participate in the ways of this world we develop this sin as our own nature. The sinful nature is described in Galatians 5:19-21: “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Also in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 it says, “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor the drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” But if you continue to read in verse 11 it says, “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” So there is hope for the sinner! We have a new path to follow in Christ Jesus! This path is the road that is narrow and leads to eternal life.

The road that is narrow and leads to eternal life is defined by the ways of the Lord. The ways of the Lord are contrary to the worlds way. The Bible is full of evidence to back this up. Some of the evidence is stated in Matthew 8:19-22, “Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’ Another disciple said to him, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus told him, ‘Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.'” If you continue to read to Matthew 19:16-22 it says, “Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, ‘Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?’ ‘Why do you ask me about what is good?’ Jesus replied. ‘There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.’ ‘Which ones?’ the man inquired. Jesus replied, ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love you neighbor as yourself.’ ‘All these I have kept,’ the young man said. ‘What do I still lack?’ Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell you possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.’ When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” So you see, it is not about fulfilling our fleshly desires and human comforts. Rather, it is about giving it all up for Him. That is why it is so hard to follow this road.

So many of us are like this last young man with great wealth. We think we are doing everything right and following God, but in reality there is still something we are holding on to and putting it above Him. For the young man it was his wealth that got in the way of him truly serving the Lord. It may be the same for you, or it could be something totally different. Whatever it may be I urge you to let it go or you too will end up the same as this young man; walking away empty and sad, with only your unsatisfying idol to hold on to.

The saying I mentioned in the beginning has some truth to it; we all do have many paths to follow. Some may be called to serve overseas and preach to unreached people who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. And some are called to stay right where they are, get a job, and use that money to bless others, not themselves. These are the paths that lead to the narrow road to eternity. Unfortunately, there are some who forget who created them and they fall for the ways of the world. They listen to the voice that tells them they don’t really need God, that they can make it on their own. But something even worse is there are those who think they know God and are living for Him, when in reality their life is only representing the ways of the world; they are satisfying their own desires rather than the Lords. They are on the path that is broad and leads to destruction.

Open The Bible and take a look for yourselves. Read the truth and let it set you free from the lies of the world. Truth is, we are supposed to be living examples of Christ if we are calling ourselves Christians. But if you don’t pick up your word and get to know the Jesus of the Bible, how are you to know how to live? So I challenge you to pick up a Bible and start reading the pages, start getting to know the God who is waiting for you to see the real Him. I also challenge you to start asking yourself what it is you are putting before God, what do you hold on to that is stopping you from fully living out a life for Christ?

Thank you for reading! Have a blessed day!

God Bless You!

Love,

theblessingsgirl

Unashamed

“All I need is one sixteen to brag on my King

Romans 1:16

We talk about Him daily cuz He runs this thang

Can I do it?”

~One Sixteen song by Trip Lee (ft. KB and Andy Mineo)

Can I do it? That is constantly the question I ask myself when I think about sharing the gospel. Or even just participating in anything that has to do with God when around non-believers. There is an undeniable fear that over takes me and causes me to hesitate before making a move. And sometimes, a majority of the time, it is the fear that makes me retreat and not carry out the mission. The verse they are singing about in this song is Romans 1:16, which says: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” So why is it that I am so afraid? Am I ashamed?

To fear man rather than the power of God, that reflects in the gospel, is to lose your very soul. This is made clear in Matthew 10:28 that says, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” It continues to say in verses 32-33, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” This is so hard to do when you are a people pleaser like me. But what is worth more, my soul or pleasing man? The answer is obvious, yet it is still so hard to live out.

The world, the enemy, would have you believe that it is peoples approval that you must gain in order to have worth and fit in. And this is true, if you are more concerned with fitting in with the world than with God. But be warned, James 4:4 says, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” If you are like me you might be thinking to yourself, “Why can’t we be apart of the world? Why does it have to be one or the other?” This has to be, because the enemy, the devil, is against God. The devil was behind the fall of man; he is the one who caused it. And ever since the fall of man happened, he has corrupted and ruled the world. So anyone more concerned with the ways of the world, is involved in the ways of the enemy. Just as anyone who is more concerned with the ways of God, is involved in the ways of God. Romans 6:17-18 says, “But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Whatever you choose to be more concerned with, you will be a slave to it and its teachings. Being slaves of the world is being filled with fleshly desire and temporary pleasure, which is why it is so tempting. But the end result is damnation. Being slaves to righteousness is living contrary to earthly pleasures and suffering for Christ. But the end result is gaining eternity in heaven.

Fear creeps in when we lose sight of our end goal. We pay more attention to the moment then we do the bigger picture. We let minimal things become urgent things; such as the reaction of a non-believer to the gospel message we share. What is urgent is that they hear the gospel message, not their reaction to it. But I am guilty. I make their reaction more urgent than the gospel shared. Fear of man becomes greater than fear of God. But today I had a small victory.

My friend and I do a Bible study together at a local coffee shop. It used to be a house, so it has lots of different rooms to migrate to to try and be alone. I say try because it is usually pretty full. So we usually end up getting a spot with a couple people in the same area as us. As we get settled and have our Bibles and notes ready, without fail the fear comes. I start to fear the reactions of the people around us and what they might think if they hear us. Today was no exception. As I was reading my thoughts were stuck on what the judgements of others must be towards us right now. As the thoughts persisted I started to feel ashamed of myself, as I always do for being ashamed of the gospel. I cried out in my mind for victory over these thoughts. And in that moment as I continued to read, that victory came! I started to get more confident in my speech, I could feel it in my spirit! The thoughts diminished and started to be replaced with thoughts of desire for them to hear what was being read! I felt free! The power of God filled me in my weakness. Victory happened for me in that moment.

Although these thoughts may cross my mind in the future, I know now that there is victory. The fear of people can be a reminder to depend on God in the moment. To trust in His power through the gospel; to know that it is truth and not something to be ashamed of. I want to start living an unashamed life. Now and forever. How about you?

I hope this encourages you to seek the unashamed life, trusting in the power of God through the gospel! Lets go out there and spread His good news! Don’t live in fear of man, but rejoice in the truth of our Protector.

God Bless You!

Love,

theblessingsgirl

What Love Really Is

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

When you think of love what comes to mind? Do you think of a person? Do you think of a thing? Do you think of an action or word? Do you think of a feeling? With so many different forms and so many different meanings, how can you know what love really is? That’s a tough question for me. Not because I haven’t felt love before, but more because there is still so much depth of love yet for me to experience. I’ve never experienced the love of a spouse, or the love for my own child, and most importantly I’ve never fully experienced the depth of God’s love. It’s not at the fault of God that I haven’t felt His love fully, but all my own. Because all this time I’ve been chasing after a definition of love I thought was the real meaning, when really it wasn’t. There are two definitions of love; one the world gives you and the one God displays for you.

The definition of love, according to Google, is an intense feeling of deep affection. And as a verb, in an intimate relationship, it is described as feeling a deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone. This is the world’s definition of love. It is identified as only a strong feeling. But were is the depth in just feeling something, even if it is strong? Feelings are constantly coming and going with no promise of withstanding any length of time; no matter the strength of it. And the only action described in this worldly definition of love is a sexual one. To love, according to the world’s definition, is to gain. You gain a very passionate and pleasing feeling toward someone else. But if we are honest it is only pleasing when that same passionate feeling is reciprocated in return. And even in acting out this definitions love is to gain something that is pleasing to us. This kind of love is very self-serving.

If we take a look at the verse I quoted in the beginning, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, we will see the definition of God’s love. It is patient and kind. It does not envy or boast. It is not proud or rude. It is not self-seeking and is not easily angered. It doesn’t keep record of wrongs. It doesn’t delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. If you notice, not one of these things is for self-gain, but everything is having to do with giving. There is no benefit for self, but only for the one receiving the love given. And also notice that this definition is not based on feeling. It has depth because these are attributes to posses and live out, not temporary feelings to feel in a moment. Looking further into what God’s definition of love is, we look in 1 John 4:8 that states, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” So if we go back to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and replace Love with God, we come to understand the attributes of God and who He is. So to posses this definition of love is to posses God Himself. The Greek word for the love described in these verses is Agape. It is the highest form of love; it is unconditional.

My definition of love has been distorted, because before God I used to be filled with the world’s view of love. I’ve put myself out there only to be rejected. I’ve loved with deep feeling, and have been loved with deep feeling in return, but only to have those feelings diminish over time. Thus making love seem like it has a time limit before it disappears and moves on. I’ve changed who I was, because I felt I needed to be someone else in order to be loved. But now knowing God and His definition of love I have come to understand what it truly means to love. It does not reject, because God never rejects His creation. It is never ending, because God has no bounds. It is an unconditional love, because God has created and knows every part of us and still calls us His children. Unfortunately, scars are still left from trying to love the worlds way. And with those scars comes hesitation, doubt, and fear from feeling the love of God fully. But I think that is a big reason the definition of God’s love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 is first mentioned as patient. God is patient with us. He understands where we are coming from and isn’t in any rush to have us accept His love perfectly. All we need to understand is that God accepts us perfectly, no matter the state we are in.

I want to give you an illustration of this love. It was told to me by a perfect stranger during a time of worship. The stranger told me that he felt God telling Him to share this with me and now I want to share it with you.

Picture in your mind you on your wedding day. Imagine how beautiful you look; the most beautiful you have ever looked. You are glowing radiantly. And as you are taking your steps down the aisle, you are searching the face of your groom. And the closer you get His face becomes clearer. It is Jesus! And He is in awe of your beauty. He is breathless. What He sees is flawless! Now just imagine Him looking on you like that every single day. Because that is what He does. Even in our weakest, most ugliest moments He looks at us and sees that beautiful, flawless bride.

Nothing can change God’s view of us, because He doesn’t view us by what we do. Rather, He views us by what He did for us. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” His love is sacrificial. He sacrificed so much, because He sees us and sees worth it.

This is what true love is. Not the worlds self-centered definition of love. It’s not about what we can get, but about what we can give. It’s not about feelings, its about serving without conditions. It’s living out the love God displayed for us on the cross. 1 John 4:19 “We love because He first loved us.” So lets go out and shine the very thing God is: Love.

I love you guys! Thank you for reading! I hope and pray that after reading this you will have a deeper understanding of what love really is! I pray you also have a deeper understanding of God’s great love for you!

God Bless You!

Love,

theblessingsgirl

The Journey through Singleness

“Being single is not easy. But neither is being married. They are just difficult in different ways as God uses everything in our life to make us more like Jesus, who happened to live a perfect life while single.”

~Mark Driscoll

Let me be honest and say being single really is not easy. It is a constant struggle to find contentment. And don’t even get me started on the temptations and thoughts. I can’t go anywhere, it seems, without looking at a guy and thinking to myself, “Oh he’s cute. Is he the one?”. I thought I was over this immature worldly way of looking at relationships, but sometimes it comes back to bite me in my weak moments. This area of my life is clearly something I need more help from God with. I need my mind to be transformed by His Word, rather than by the world.

As I was reading through my new Bible reading plan, I came across Genesis 24. It is the story of Isaac and Rebekah. And when I read it, I had a God moment of what it truly looks like to be in a Godly relationship. There are other stories in the Bible that display Godly relationships; but this is the one I came across and felt the need to share a couple points I got from it.

 The first point is that when it is time for us to be in a relationship, our parents should be in approval of the person. Genesis 24:1-4 says, “Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. He said to the chief servant in his household, ‘Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.'” Abraham had expectations for the wife he wanted for his son. He wanted only the best for him. Even though the standards back then were different, the idea that our parents only want the best for us still applies. And one way to honor our parents is to respect there opinions of who they think is best for us. Granted there are situations that exclude a parents opinion; such as a parent who isn’t in the picture, or those who don’t meet the standards of a true parent, and even some situations where the parents opinion is not honoring God but only their selfishness. For the most part though, our parents opinions should be a major deciding factor to who we choose to pursue. I believe that if God wants you to be with someone, He will align parents approval for that person.

With that, the second point is this: if it is Gods will for you to be with this person, then things will start to align and work together. In verses 12-14 it says, “Then he (the servant) prayed, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a girl, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’-let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.'” As the servant laid out this “fleece”, God was working it out to match all the servant had requested. All that the servant requested happened, because it was in line with God’s will. We too must lay out our “fleece” and wait on God to see it it is in His will. We must not go on our own plan and make a relationship work just because we want it to. We do not know what is best, God does.

The next point, and greatest for our time of singleness, is this: Be diligently seeking out Gods purpose for you in your singleness. In verses 15-16 it continues to say, “Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her…” Rebekah wasn’t out searching for a man. We see her diligent in her work, even if it is just fetching some water. We also know that she wasn’t consumed with throwing herself away to any man that came her way. She was staying the course of purity. This is the example we are to follow in our own singleness. Singleness is a great way to find out your passions, and to get involved in ministries that involve those passions. The less we are focused on how much we want to be with someone, the more time we have to focus on what God has planned for us in our singleness. Plus the more we are consumed with Gods work, the more distracted we are from the temptations of lust and sexual impurity. God uses this time of singleness to mold us into the person we were meant to be for His glory. It also can be used to prepare us to be a mature future spouse.

The last point is to find someone who is willing to follow after God in everything they do. We see Rebekah follow Gods call for her life in verse 58, “So they called Rebekah and asked her, ‘Will you go with this man?’ ‘I will go,’ she said.”Rebekah barely new this man nor did she know the man she was about to marry. But what she did know was that this was from God and she trusted in God enough to follow after His call. This is an attribute our future spouse needs to posses, as well as ourselves. We need to have the faith to follow God where ever He calls us.

Just as Isaac and Rebekah waited patiently for one another, we also must wait patiently for our spouse. But lets not sulk any longer in our singleness! Rather, lets rejoice! Let’s be so consumed with God and the purpose He has for us in our singleness! I hate living in discontentment, but I also am tired of getting my heart broken! I want to start living out my purpose in my singleness, don’t you?

I hope these points have brought some encouragement and enlightened you in some way! Singleness is tough, but it is also a blessing. So find that blessing and live it out!

God Bless You!

Love,

theblessingsgirl

Words

Have you ever participated in gossip? You know those conversations that are seemingly innocent but really are packed with slander against someone else. Even though there may be truth to some of the things said, is it really edifying or is it degrading? The words we chose to use are important and have the power to bring life or death.

It says in Proverbs 11:13 that, “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.” Further more, “A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends” (16:28). Are we the perverse man who is only out to seek dissension and conflict with our words? Or are we the trustworthy man who keeps a secret and protects the confidence of a person?

If you are like the first man than you are in the description of the people in Romans 1:28-30; “..since they [godless and wicked men] did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are GOSSIPS, SLANDERERS….” and so on. Is that really how you want to be portrayed? As a godless man? If you are thinking to yourself, “it’s not that I am a godless man, it’s just that I have a weakness for gossip.” Thats fine. Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But do not use this as an excuse to stop fighting against your weakness. Instead use it to inspire you to fight harder, knowing that with God’s grace there is hope to overcome it. James 3:9-10 states, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” So the next time you want to participate in gossip, just remember that you are no better than that person. We are all made by God and in His likeness. We all sin and fall short. So rather than curse and judge them, remember your own sin and short comings.

God used this next verse to reveal a question I had to ask myself and also to ask all of you. 2 Corinthians 12:20 says, “For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.” This was written by Paul and it was to the church in Corinth. As I read this the question came, “What if God came now and this is how He would find us?” Is this how God would find you? Is this really how you want Him to find you? I know I don’t want to be found this way. The way we ought to be found is to be displaying the fruit described in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…” How do we gain these fruits? Jesus says, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:7-8). If we seek God, read His Word, and pray to Him we will bear His fruit and be His disciples.

It is all in what we are filling ourselves with. Is it with good or evil; with God or with the world? “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). So it is up to us, are we going to allow our weakness to overflow out of our hearts and into our words, or will it be God?

Thank you for reading! I hope and pray you will be filled with God’s truth! And that these  words would bless you and move you to fill yourselves with Him, rather than with the world. Let our words be filled with the grace God has given us. And let our hearts be changed to see the beauty in people, rather than what there is to judge. Amen!

God Bless You!

Love,

theblessingsgirl