We are nothing without Jesus. I can’t even breathe a breath without him because he is breathing his life into my lungs. So when it comes to your dreams, that position you just recieved, or maybe a calling God has placed on your heart. Remember God needs your heart, not your resume. Throughout scripture, God seemed to pick the outcasts or what the world thought were outcasts. Those people ended up being the great and noble individuals we still talk about today due to their obedience, faith, and open heart to what God had planned for their life.
The next time you are discouraged, remember God choseyou for a specific purpose. So whoever told you that you couldn’t, remember your heavenly father is the one who enables the can.
I have had a goal for the past 4 years and it was to get to know God and put him first. I can finally say, in 2017 it has been accomplished. This past year, as it comes to end has shown me who I am in Christ. Nothing is more powerful than knowing your identity in Christ. When I faced trials and tribulations, the more I knew my Papa and declared his promises, the better off I was! I knew throughout 2017:
“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”-Romans 8:28 CSB
Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.-Philippians 4:6-9 CSB
Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as the world’s Savior. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God — God remains in him and he in God. And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.-1 John 4:10-16 CSB
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.-1 John 4:19-21 CSB
Those are just some of God’s promises that got me through. God has inspired me to write not only this blog, but I am working on a book. He gave me my amazing husband this past year and I got a beautiful puppy this CHRISTmas! God has provided abundantly in my finances and has healed me of Bipolar Disorder. (You can check out the links below to see more on mental health) I’ve saw people find God that I prayed for and other miracles happen before my eyes! The list goes on of how God has blessed me this year.
As this year approaches I want to encourage you to keep a prayer journal to show what Abba has brought you to and through. I also remind you that “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”-Romans 8:37-39 CSB
If we put God at the throne of our hearts where he belongsyou will watch 2018 be one of the best years of your life! I’m telling you this from my experience!
Did you reach any of your goals in 2017? What are some in 2018?
Thankyou to all those who have supported me through this blog. May God bless you abundantly in this next year to come. My hope is for you to grow into a deeper & more intimate relationship this year with Abba. That you always keep him on the throne of your heart. I pray he gives you a boldness to show people who may not know him, what pure love really looks like by showing Christ’s example. I pray you hold onto your lifelines of your relationship with God: his word, prayer, and a church family who loves God, who pushes you to know him more!
I’ve come to many spots in my walk with God where I’m like, “God, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? I need to plan my future!”. You can talk to my fiance, my to do lists, have to do lists. I like to plan EVERYTHING. Down to the smallest detail. I still have no idea what career lies ahead of me. Whether or not I am going back to school, continuing care-giving, or if I will get an opportunity for a leadership position at church that will take most of my time. I don’t know where becoming a spouse of a soldier will take me, literally. I just don’t know. I’ve been in the waiting period for a while now. Waiting for God to point out exactly what my future withholds in Louisiana. Often times when I am a little off my faith game, I become anxious. I am blessed to be surrounded by wonderful sisters and brothers of Christ that hold me accountable if I get a little off focus.
I was once told to just ask Abba for the next step. If he gave us the whole plan would we really understand anyways?
The more my relationship with Abba grows, the more I understand it is about trusting in his promises, even if I don’t know what is going on.
I do know that “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”. ((I hold onto this verse and Romans 8:28 very tightly!))
I know that I can make a plan but God always knows what will work out best for everyone. We can think our plan is the wonderful plan, but really it can hurt people we don’t know and for many generations to come. If we just ask God to direct our steps, he will.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” ~Proverbs 3:5-6
He wants what’s best for you. He is a loving father. I don’t understand a lot of the time, but I don’t think we are supposed to. His plans are far greater than we can ever imagine. It’s about trust.
I know trust doesn’t always come easy to a lot of us, myself included. We have been beat up in the fallen world we live in. However, God is far greater than anyone of this world. He loves you, he will never leave, nor forsake you.
