Shine...

Devo for the day:

"Seek my face, and you will find all that you have longed for. The deepest yearnings of my heart are for intimacy with Me. I know, because I have designed you to desire Me. Do not feel guilty about taking time to be still in My Presence. You are simply responding to the tugs of divinity within you. I made you in My image, and I hid heaven in your heart. Your yearning for Me is a form of homesickeness, longing for your true home in heaven.

Do not be afraid to be different from other people. The path I have called you to travel is exquisitely right for you. The more closely you follow My leading, the more fully I can develop your gifts. To follow me wholeheartedly, you must relinquish your desire to please other people. However, your closeness to Me will bless others by enabling you to shine brightly in this world."

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Nelson Mandela:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

We need to seek God. The world is trying to get in the way of God working in and through us. If we seek God with our whole heart we will find him. Yes God will meet us where we are at, but unless we turn to follow him he will not drag us along. We have to respond. We have to act. God chose us. He chose you. Yes, you. Bring glory to God. He is the all in all. He made each of us unique to shine for him. But a light does not shine if not connected to its source. As we become who we are and live that way, it allows others to be the real them. We can experience and be that freedom. Truth sets you free. If you live in truth you will experience the feeling of freedom unlike any other

JOURNEY... where am I?

God's Freedom. God has changed me so much, I finally value myself and believe in myself. I have always been my own worst enemy and I finally appreciate the strengths and weaknesses I see in myself and want God to fill the holes, to be my everything... While I before said I surrendered, I was still holding on, I still wanted control. I wanted something to be my way, and that was keeping me from the truth and freedom that I could have experienced. When Jesus says that he wants us to have full life, that phrase has so much depth and breadth within it that we can never comprehend. But what we can do is live in the moment, trusting in who God is and who he is in us that he is working and has a plan and purpose. It sounds so cliche but I have finally come to this place where I can trust God, not having everything figured out. Knowing he has something for me SOOO much better than I could even imagine for myself. God's truth has set me free!

God's love. Before I can even grasp any sort of what love is I have to get to know Christ. Christ is love. And in that I can love who Christ made me to be. He made me in his creation, as a beautiful masterpiece. While I am not complete, each portion of the process is beautiful and Christ refines my heart and soul. For so long I was not willing to let God love me like I knew him to love others. I could believe God's power and strength to be sufficient in others lives but doubt him in my own... This was not okay. I did not feel I was worth it or I was good enough to believe in that for myself... Who put this lie in my head!! So I had to endure the process of putting my hope and trust in false things besides the glory of the Lord. Understanding God's unconditional and perfect love is what life is supposed to be. Love is scary, but it is so amazing, powerful, and transforming. Love gives freedom and purpose. Love is life. Christ is love. We were created for most importantly a relationship with him. But also in fellowship to interact, empower, to feel, to be, to smile, to cry, to laugh.

God's timing. I love knowing what is going to happen, planning things out so they work perfectly... but life is not perfect. sometimes we have to go with the flow and trust. After I experienced some major setbacks, I wanted things to be perfect instantly, I wanted to be free, I wanted to feel like myself again. I had always put on the facade that everything was okay... but this was far from the truth. But only the past couple months have I felt even close to the person I knew was inside of me. If it were up to me, it would have happened alot sooner. God has different gauge of timing. There was so much more I had to learn in the process. I had to give myself time to fully heal... which took alot longer than I thought it would have.

Be still and know that he is God. I have often struggled with finding the time to slow down and enjoy. It is so easy to fill your life with busyness and pouring out. I now know how much I need to be filled so I can continue to pour out The more time you spend with Christ the more you will know the heart of God and continue to be filled with his presence. I struggle with this all the time. Thinking of mary and martha, I am challenged to be still, to be in the present, to live in the moment. Sit in the presence of the Lord, There is a time and a place for everything... God is the Lord of all...

So here's to where God has brought me, where I am today, and his plan for my future.