I am a forgiven sinner and broken follower of Christ who desperately desires to love all and give all for the Creator and Savior of the world.
"whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did"
1 John 2:6
Around 3:30 AM this morning I was driving home after a fun night with friends and my car ran out of gas. After calling my family and getting no answer try after try, I started to freak out a bit. It was the middle of the night, I was in a dress, and I was stranded on the side of the highway alone. No idea what to do. Then I began to earnestly pray… and beg God to help me. Over and over I asked Him to help me…. Not even a couple minutes later a vehicle started to come down the road. I turned my flashers on and the motorcycle stopped alongside my car. Obviously I was a bit nervous. The man asked if I was okay and I told him what happened. He offered to check under the hood and see if anything else was wrong. He began to tell me who he was…I was surprised to hear that he was a retired marine and used to train navy seals and has presidential honors and has been all over the world and much more. Then he said ‘but God is the only reason I am alive’. He shared with me a lot about God’s favor in his life and how loving Jesus is more important than anything else. I joyfully shared about my relationship with Christ. The man kindly went and got gas for my car and came back. And then continued to bless me by telling me I didn’t owe him a penny for it, after putting about 5 gallons in. The car started thankfully. We talked a bit more about God’s goodness and perfect ways and then I made my way home around 5 AM. Who can say, even those with no faith at all, that this was just a lucky coincidence? There is no way. How could the one person who stops to help me be him? Perfect timing, perfect plan, Perfect God who is faithful to His children who are faithful to Him. There is no need to fear or worry, look what God does!!! I pray that sharing this story will encourage many of you and enlighten many of you. It sure encouraged me! God is so good!! God is alive, friends! He loves you. He provides.
You step into my emptiness until it’s all gone. You slide into my starless night and You shine like the sun. You chase away the loneliness whenever You come around. So come on and take off Your camouflage Lord and let me see You now. I just want You to hang around. I just want You to stay. I need You in the morning, I need You in the evening, and when the sun goes down. I need You in the daytime, I need You in the night time, and when the sun goes down.
I dreamed I’d bleed with Your praises, just to make the world smell like your grace again. I got down on my hands and my knees again. I’m crawling on the floor just to find You now. To tell You how I feel I’m falling all over myself.
Son of David, do not pass me by, cause I am naked, I’m poor and I’m blind.
“My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to Your Word!”
The last four months I have been reading through the Bible, cover to cover…and I finished Revelation yesterday!! Ah! It is a wonderful feeling. I can’t even express how much closer I have grown to our good Lord. I am so thankful for how much time God has given me to read His Word in such a short period. I’ve learned SO much and my faith in the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit has been strengthened over and over. I am just very thankful. God is so faithful and GOOD. This will always be true no matter what our circumstances are today. God has brought me an awesome job for this summer. Woo! Past that, no idea what I am doing. But I know God loves me and is for me. We are most blessed when we trust Him completely and give up all we have. When we are broken, that is when God can use us and move us and change us and transform us. I’ve realized through losing much, that my trust was not fully in God, but in other things and people as well. He uses EVERYTHING to conform us to the image of Christ and to bring us closer to Him. I’m grateful for the pain and loss. I am thankful for God’s amazing pursuit after me. He wants all of us, everything we are. Our best decision ever will be to give in and run to His loving arms and release everything at His feet. Live with open hands. Once you see that God is MORE than we can ever understand and is better than all the things we try to fill our hearts with…once you know that, you won’t want anything else. We can have HIM! We should want to lose everything and be freed of our selfishness, so we can be completely filled with Him!! In order to be like Christ, we have to be less like ourselves. We have to stop sinning and have to start hating sin, as God does. We have to go against our flesh and against what the world does and what it lives for. But these desires and changes WILL NOT come unless we are truly in love with our holy God, unless all we want is to be in His presence, unless all we want is to be changed into Christ’s likeness, unless we know WHO HE IS.
So draw near to God! Learn more about Him! Know His character and live with and experience the fruits of the Spirit. Be blessed by being broken for God! Humble yourselves. Let Jesus’ blood wash over you and cleanse you. Let the Lord be more real to you than ever before. Rest peacefully with His grace and mercy. Thank Him. Praise Him. Love Him back. Apologize to Him. Give everything up. Follow Him wholeheartedly. Pray, pray, pray…we have so much power through Christ! READ HIS WORD. I know your heart will be changed. When you learn of His goodness and gentleness and incredible, beautiful love, I know you will want more. Once God has become the desire of your heart, there is nothing you won’t give up to get more of Him. I know this, because God has done this with me. He has changed me and is changing me. He has taken and taken and I am so grateful. And I will spend the rest of the time I’m given thanking Him and glorifying His name. All praise to God! Whatever is ahead, I’m excited.
