Dear Precious Friends,
On this Beautiful TGIFF ( Thank God I'm Forgiven Friday) I pray you are experiencing God's splendor and gifts in His creation on these beautiful days of Spring. We have been so blessed with such incredible weather which stirs our heart to be out in His incredible creation. How many cardinals have you seen fly in front of you lately? Have you noticed the beautiful heart shaped leaves on the vines that grow in the wild... It makes me think "I did this all for You" every time I see them...
As we walk into a new day and I share my heart, I want to share that I had a tough experience in Atlanta that I was protected from. I was armored up and called out the protection God gives us in a very, very scary situation.
It really is amazing how God protected me. I trusted Him with all my heart and used every piece of armor in Ephesians especially the sword which is His word to stand firm against the schemes of the enemy. I knew the victory I had in Him and the protection He already covered me in and I had to stand firm against the schemes of the enemy.
It really caused me to humble myself and ask God to show me the motives of my heart and to seek Him for where He wants me in the race of life and the choices I make.
It's hard to believe that one day our life will end. We have one life—just one—and when it’s over…it’s over. And here’s the truth: whether we know it or not, believe it or not, or agree with it or not, we will all—every single last one of us— will stand before a Holy God who cannot be in the presence of sin.
Because our very nature is to sin... and wander, and run from Jesus. We run from His loving and sanctifying work in us and often run from the race He has marked for us.
But for some of us, we don’t run from it. Some of us choose the harder choice…to run to it. Some of us run to the Lord. Some of us choose to run to Jesus, saying to him all the while, “who else do I have but you? Where else can I go, but to you?” Running to Jesus is the harder choice. Running to Jesus forces us to accept that tragedy is going to happen, that pain is a guarantee, that the race will be rocky, and that not everything will be perfect all of the time.
That there will be seasons of wilderness, seasons of joy, seasons of brokenness, and seasons of hope. Running to Jesus reveals to us our own selves. Maybe when we thought we were “speaking truth”, it was actually just pride. Maybe when we thought we were justified in our actions, it was simply justifying sin or flying off the handle. Maybe when we thought we were doing things for others, we were really wanting ourselves to be glorified.
When we run to Jesus, He gently and patiently, and with so much graciousness, shows us the true motives of our heart. He shows us the true reason for our actions and how we actually are: sinful and flawed people in desperate need of the merciful grace of a Savior.
Here is truth:
When we live our life like this:
The race becomes worth it.
The brokenness becomes worth it.
The seasons of ups and downs, highs and lows, become worth it.
The sanctifying work of Jesus in our life, in our soul and in our character, becomes worth it.
The vulnerability and the “laid bare” feeling that comes from confession of sin, becomes worth it.
Why?
Because one day soon, we will see His face. And when we do, we will fall down before the mercy seat of a Holy and Righteous God. And when God sees us, here’s what we will have to show for our life here on earth: Jesus. That we ran to Jesus. That we embraced all that Jesus called us to embrace. That we embraced the wounds, the pains, the trials, the brokenness, the sanctification, the struggles, and the hardest part: running to Jesus instead of running away, messing up again and again in our humanness, and running back to Jesus.
Philippians 3:14 says, “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
Let's focus on what we know as we embrace today and remember this all of our days: One day we—with every wound, every crown, every trial, and every season—will be able to lay it all at the feet of Jesus and say, “It was worth it all, for the surpassing infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, and running toward Jesus with every breath.”
Now my friends this is reason to say AMEN!!!!
Source: God's word, Holy Spirit, Worth it All Devo
Please take a moment to listen to this song!!!
