In the fall I crave McDonald's Coffee. I love the warmth it brings to my body and the smell of it somehow brings joy to my morning! One day this past fall I decided to run through the drive through and grab myself a coffee. I do this routinely so it is nothing new to me, but that morning was different. As I grabbed my coffee and rolled up my window, the car started to fill with the aroma of coffee. In that moment something felt different, it caught me off guard. I really have a hard time explaining it, but I literally felt an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and love for God, so I started to thank Him. I know, I know, thanking God for coffee is quite normal, Hallelujah to the creator of coffee, haha...but this was far different then just a thank you, this was much deeper. The smell of the coffee somehow connected me with God in a way I cannot explain. It was as if I felt God’s love, comfort and goodness fill my soul. It still amazes me that just the smell of coffee somehow gave me a glimpse of God’s glory. I felt it for only a few minutes and then it was gone. The experience was literally so powerful it brought me to tears. The only thing I could think to do was praise God.
As the hours passed by that day, I couldn’t stop thinking of how great God was. He gave me the most precious reminder that everything good in this world is because of Him. Even the delicious coffee I was drinking was an example of His goodness and glory. I don’t often think of Him when I drink my coffee in the morning, but I wish I did. There are so many things in my life I take for granite. I don’t think I've ever thanked God in the morning for being alive because waking up in the morning I often take for granite. Every breath I take, every good thing in my life, every second I get to spend with my family is only because of God’s goodness, but I often forget to thank Him for those things.
God doesn’t owe me anything, yet in my humanness I sometimes lose focus and for some reason feel like God owes me. I used to go through life thinking this way all of the time. I didn’t actually know I was thinking this way, but as I look back it is obvious. If I prayed and my prayers weren’t answered I’d wonder why God didn’t care or why He wasn’t giving me what I wanted. It wasn’t until I started seeking God in scripture and through prayer that I started realizing my thoughts were all wrong. The more I sought God with my heart the more He revealed to me. It was as if His truth and His “way of thinking” was being etched on my heart. I had “my way of thinking” and God was changing that. The more and more I seek God, the more and more I realize how undeserving I am of everything good He gives to me. He gives so freely and so perfectly. He doesn't give and then expect anything back. He gives to us even though we don't deserve it. It is hard to fathom that kind of perfect love. As humans we would never think to give to someone who wasn't appreciative or grateful, yet God pours out His blessings on humanity every second of every day and we often remain ungrateful and unappreciative.
God doesn’t owe me anything, yet in my humanness I sometimes lose focus and for some reason feel like God owes me. I used to go through life thinking this way all of the time. I didn’t actually know I was thinking this way, but as I look back it is obvious. If I prayed and my prayers weren’t answered I’d wonder why God didn’t care or why He wasn’t giving me what I wanted. It wasn’t until I started seeking God in scripture and through prayer that I started realizing my thoughts were all wrong. The more I sought God with my heart the more He revealed to me. It was as if His truth and His “way of thinking” was being etched on my heart. I had “my way of thinking” and God was changing that. The more and more I seek God, the more and more I realize how undeserving I am of everything good He gives to me. He gives so freely and so perfectly. He doesn't give and then expect anything back. He gives to us even though we don't deserve it. It is hard to fathom that kind of perfect love. As humans we would never think to give to someone who wasn't appreciative or grateful, yet God pours out His blessings on humanity every second of every day and we often remain ungrateful and unappreciative.
I used to have my pedestal I liked to stand on. I wanted the world to revolve around me.
…. Okay…… Okay…...
…. Okay…… Okay…...
If we are being honest I still find myself up on the pedestal sometimes…. but hear me out.
I’m not up there constantly anymore. It used to be like an everyday all day kind of thing. The only difference now is, I have God to keep me in check. If I accidentally find myself trying to get up on that pedestal, God always gives me a nice little reminder of where I rank!! Haha!!! I can laugh now, but when He is teaching me, it’not fun. He promises to change me, but He never promises it will be easy. I am grateful that I have a Father who is willing to teach me. He is constantly reminding me that this world is not about me, but all about Him.
It is only when I am in my rightful place, humbled before the King that He is able to change my heart. It is only because of God that I learned that life isn’t about worshiping self, but about worshiping Him. When you don’t worship God, by default you worship self. Everything I did was to benefit me, everything I did was for my own success and glory, I might have made the excuse I was “doing it for my family” and maybe I was to an extend, but the majority of me was doing it for me. When we have no one else to give the glory to, we by default give ourselves all the glory. Everything we succeed in, we take credit for because we worked hard. Everything we are talented at, we give ourselves credit for because we are so "awesome". Everything we are blessed with we take for granite because that is what we think we deserve. I used to think this way and it only left me empty and unfulfilled. It’s God who should be getting all the glory, but instead everyone wants the glory for themselves. We have no problem thanking others for the blessings in our life or taking the credit for ourselves, but it is really God who deserves all the praise.
It's not as if I am perfect and I praise God all day everyday and never fall short. I will never do this life perfect regardless of how much I love God and seek Him. I will continue to fail, but the difference now is, I no longer see failure as a bad thing. I often feel that it is in my failures that God teaches me. I used to beat myself up and get down on myself when I would make a mistake.When I would see something I didn't like about myself I'd feel so guilty. I would often see selfishness deep within, I often wanted it my way all the time, I was easily angered and often impatient and ungrateful. It's not as if I didn't know those things about myself, I was and still am fully aware of how broken I am, but now I don't let the brokenness I see burden me. I go to God with the sin and ugliness in my heart and when I do He changes me.
I was never able to change myself. I couldn’t change who I was deep down. The shame and guilt I used to feel was heavy. I saw the ugliness in my own heart and I didn’t want it there. I just didn't know how to change. The thing is I wasted too many years entertaining the negative self talk and the voices that shamed me for being selfish, greedy, impatient or ungrateful. It was a waste of my time to listen to the guilt. What I should have been doing was seeking God. It wasn’t until I sought God that my heart actually started changing. I didn’t have to try in my own strength anymore. It was God’s supernatural strength that started transforming me into the women He wanted me to be. He began with renewing my mind and changing my perspective and from there it moved to my heart. It was crazy to see the change that I desired for so long starting to take shape in my life. I always had a deep longing to be different, but it wasn’t until I put God number one in my life and worshiped Him before anything else that I began to change.
I was never able to change myself. I couldn’t change who I was deep down. The shame and guilt I used to feel was heavy. I saw the ugliness in my own heart and I didn’t want it there. I just didn't know how to change. The thing is I wasted too many years entertaining the negative self talk and the voices that shamed me for being selfish, greedy, impatient or ungrateful. It was a waste of my time to listen to the guilt. What I should have been doing was seeking God. It wasn’t until I sought God that my heart actually started changing. I didn’t have to try in my own strength anymore. It was God’s supernatural strength that started transforming me into the women He wanted me to be. He began with renewing my mind and changing my perspective and from there it moved to my heart. It was crazy to see the change that I desired for so long starting to take shape in my life. I always had a deep longing to be different, but it wasn’t until I put God number one in my life and worshiped Him before anything else that I began to change.
We can do things in this life without putting God number one in our lives, but when we do that we cannot expect things to be fulfilling and we cannot expect to thrive. I don’t mean thrive in terms of what the world would consider thriving. Often I used to think thriving meant being rich, success, popular, beautiful, etc. That is how the world would describe thriving, but biblically thriving is defined very different. “Thriving” in this world is temporary and quickly fades, but thriving according to God is everlasting. God wants us to thrive from within. It is the heart God sees. He wants to change your heart to be more like His. He wants us to have character like Him. He wants us to thrive in that way, in the transforming of our hearts.
When we stake our whole lives in wanting to thrive in this world we will never find the contentment, fulfillment and joy that this life has to offer. When we are made to be more and more like Christ we experience joy and fulfillment that cannot be found in this world. There is nothing greater than what God has to offer us. This world might seem like it has all of what we desire, but it is only counterfeit. Yes we will be able to find temporary fulfillment and some joy here and there, but it will slowly fade. When we chase the things of this world it will give us a false sense of security and in the end will deceive us. We get to the end and that thing we were chasing after leaves us empty, discontent and without hope. We get so distracted chasing after what the world deems as important we lose focus on Who really matters, God. He created it all, He is in charge of it all, but it’s so easy to get distracted by all of it. When we turn our focus to our Creator we find what our souls desires.
When we stake our whole lives in wanting to thrive in this world we will never find the contentment, fulfillment and joy that this life has to offer. When we are made to be more and more like Christ we experience joy and fulfillment that cannot be found in this world. There is nothing greater than what God has to offer us. This world might seem like it has all of what we desire, but it is only counterfeit. Yes we will be able to find temporary fulfillment and some joy here and there, but it will slowly fade. When we chase the things of this world it will give us a false sense of security and in the end will deceive us. We get to the end and that thing we were chasing after leaves us empty, discontent and without hope. We get so distracted chasing after what the world deems as important we lose focus on Who really matters, God. He created it all, He is in charge of it all, but it’s so easy to get distracted by all of it. When we turn our focus to our Creator we find what our souls desires.
We cannot escape God’s glory, nor would I want to, but even for those who do not believe in God they are surrounded by His glory. The evidence of God is all around us. The beauty and vastness of this universe displays God’s glory every second of every day. He blesses us with the physical world to remind us of His glory. It is not only in nature, but humanity too. God created humans in His image and for His glory. As mere humans we only show God’s glory because of God. The glory of God is the beauty of His Spirit. It is not a physical beauty, but is a beauty that radiates from His character. The glory of God is displayed by all of His attributes together. This glory is unfading and is not temporary, this glory is eternal.
When you see someone who shows kindness, love, patience, heroism, gentleness, etc. You are seeing God’s glory. You are seeing a tiny glimpse of God’s character. Anything good, loving, brave, and righteous that someone does, is only because of God. The goodness that shines through in humanity, is only because of God, we are just a vessel to display His wonderful and magnificent glory. Without God there would be nothing good in this world, no beauty, no love, no kindness, no hugs, no smiles, no incredible smells, no amazing food, no oceans, no families, NOTHING. There would only be evil and darkness left over. I often think of hell as the absence of God. If this world was without God’s presence and glory, it might look similar to hell.
When you see someone who shows kindness, love, patience, heroism, gentleness, etc. You are seeing God’s glory. You are seeing a tiny glimpse of God’s character. Anything good, loving, brave, and righteous that someone does, is only because of God. The goodness that shines through in humanity, is only because of God, we are just a vessel to display His wonderful and magnificent glory. Without God there would be nothing good in this world, no beauty, no love, no kindness, no hugs, no smiles, no incredible smells, no amazing food, no oceans, no families, NOTHING. There would only be evil and darkness left over. I often think of hell as the absence of God. If this world was without God’s presence and glory, it might look similar to hell.
The greatest thing about God’s glory is we get to experience it. How amazing is that! We get to see it, smell it, taste it, hear it, and feel it. Like I mention before I was able to experience God’s glory by smelling and tasting coffee. We can experience glimpses of God’s magnificent glory everyday, but often we are so busy that we miss it. Our perspective or thoughts are often far from God. I have been learning that the more I seek God the more obvious His presence is in my life and in this world. In the past I would have never seen God’s glory around me. I never had the mindset to actually look and in all honesty I had no desire to look. I was only consumed with myself. When you get so consumed with self it is almost as if you are a prisoner. Your thoughts and desires revolve around you. It is a depressing and unfulfilling life to live. It is only when we seek God that He will begin to open our eyes and hearts to His wonderful glory and presence here on earth. It’s all around us!
The things of this world will slowly fade. Talents, beauty, relationships, people, our successes and accolades. God is the only One who is constant and never changing. He is who we can put our hope in and He can be our firm foundation. Everything good derives from Him. Everything is created by him, exists by His power and is created for His glory. It makes sense to worship Him rather than His creation because He will never fade, never grows weary, never changes, will never let us down, and is perfect. When we worship things of this world we will find that none of it will be able to satisfy the deep longing in our soul for something stable. It’s God we long for, not His creation. When we worship God first, the good things he created in this world become a blessing rather than a curse. When we put God first in our lives, He renews our minds and changes our perspective.
We are naturally selfish, ungrateful, and rebellious toward God. We often want to go our own way and do our own thing. It’s not as if God doesn't know this, it's in our nature. We are all born into this world broken and sinful. It is not as if some people are more broken than others, but unfortunately that is often the lie we believe. We believe the most evil people are more broken than we are, but when we are so focused on their brokenness, we lose sight of our own brokenness. Doing this only makes it harder for our own hearts to change, it becomes a hindrance when we have our focus on other people's sin and not our own. We look at others and see how "messed up" they are, but we never take the time to look at the mess in our own hearts.
We are all broken and we are all born into a sin that separates us from God. Don’t believe the lie that you do not need a Savior. We all need saving from ourselves. Jesus Christ died on the cross so we could have hope. He died so we could have life. We can live a life in bondage to ourselves and to our sin or we can be set free from the chains that weigh us down. It is because of Christ that we can be in right standing with God. It is when we put our trust in Him and what He did on the cross that saves us. There is nothing we can do in our humanness that could make us right with God, we are just too broken. It is Jesus who did what needed to be done and He paid the penalty for our sin.
My hope is to help people realize that we cannot make ourselves right with God by do, do, doing. I did that for so many years and it was so exhausting. Being a good person is not what saves us, we cannot do enough good to save ourselves or to make us right with God. We would have to be perfect and sinless to measure up to God’s standard, we don’t even come close. The only person who was perfect and sinless was Jesus and that’s exactly why He was the perfect sacrifice. Instead of trying to earn good standing with God by our works, we need to put our trust in Jesus Christ. The bible makes it very clear in several different scriptures that we are not saved by our good works, but by faith in Christ.
We are naturally selfish, ungrateful, and rebellious toward God. We often want to go our own way and do our own thing. It’s not as if God doesn't know this, it's in our nature. We are all born into this world broken and sinful. It is not as if some people are more broken than others, but unfortunately that is often the lie we believe. We believe the most evil people are more broken than we are, but when we are so focused on their brokenness, we lose sight of our own brokenness. Doing this only makes it harder for our own hearts to change, it becomes a hindrance when we have our focus on other people's sin and not our own. We look at others and see how "messed up" they are, but we never take the time to look at the mess in our own hearts.
We are all broken and we are all born into a sin that separates us from God. Don’t believe the lie that you do not need a Savior. We all need saving from ourselves. Jesus Christ died on the cross so we could have hope. He died so we could have life. We can live a life in bondage to ourselves and to our sin or we can be set free from the chains that weigh us down. It is because of Christ that we can be in right standing with God. It is when we put our trust in Him and what He did on the cross that saves us. There is nothing we can do in our humanness that could make us right with God, we are just too broken. It is Jesus who did what needed to be done and He paid the penalty for our sin.
My hope is to help people realize that we cannot make ourselves right with God by do, do, doing. I did that for so many years and it was so exhausting. Being a good person is not what saves us, we cannot do enough good to save ourselves or to make us right with God. We would have to be perfect and sinless to measure up to God’s standard, we don’t even come close. The only person who was perfect and sinless was Jesus and that’s exactly why He was the perfect sacrifice. Instead of trying to earn good standing with God by our works, we need to put our trust in Jesus Christ. The bible makes it very clear in several different scriptures that we are not saved by our good works, but by faith in Christ.
"God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” Ephesians 2:8-9
“Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”
Galatians 2:16
Galatians 2:16
It is easy for us to see peoples good works and think they have it all together or that they are perfect. We see the outside, but God sees the inside. God sees the heart of every man and what He sees is far from perfect. No matter what we do on the outside, it is the heart that matters. Even if we have an ounce of greed, hate, selfishness, impatience, bitterness, jealousy, anger in our hearts God sees it. Humanity has become good at hiding who they are deep down. No one wants to show the ugliness of their heart, but we cannot hide from God. God sees our broken hearts and He wants to mend them. He wants to free us from the ugliness and the sin that consumes the human heart.
He is the only One who has the power to give us freedom from the things that keep us in bondage: Addiction, greed, lying, stealing, over spending, pornography, rage, unforgiveness, jealousy, etc. Whatever is keeping you captive, Jesus Christ died on the cross to free you from it. You just have to go to Him, it’s that easy. He says in Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” This scripture speaks so much truth to my life because I used to live with heavy burdens and I was in bondage to so much sin in my life. It was only when I gave myself over to Christ that I found freedom. He changed my heart and changed my life.
If you have heavy burdens, know that you don’t have to carry them any longer, it is Christ who will free you from the chains that keep you prisoner. Go to Him, just as you are. There is no sin that is “so bad” that will disqualify you from the love of Christ. His love is perfect and everlasting. You are loved and cherished by the God of this universe and that is absolute truth. God's creation especially humanity is precious to our Father, He is always waiting patiently for His children to come to Him.
He is the only One who has the power to give us freedom from the things that keep us in bondage: Addiction, greed, lying, stealing, over spending, pornography, rage, unforgiveness, jealousy, etc. Whatever is keeping you captive, Jesus Christ died on the cross to free you from it. You just have to go to Him, it’s that easy. He says in Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” This scripture speaks so much truth to my life because I used to live with heavy burdens and I was in bondage to so much sin in my life. It was only when I gave myself over to Christ that I found freedom. He changed my heart and changed my life.
If you have heavy burdens, know that you don’t have to carry them any longer, it is Christ who will free you from the chains that keep you prisoner. Go to Him, just as you are. There is no sin that is “so bad” that will disqualify you from the love of Christ. His love is perfect and everlasting. You are loved and cherished by the God of this universe and that is absolute truth. God's creation especially humanity is precious to our Father, He is always waiting patiently for His children to come to Him.
John 3:16
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave[a] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 11:36
For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.
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