Cues theme song*
“iiiiii surrender all, iiiii surrender all” throw a little snot and tears on that bad boy and you got us, on a Sunday morning after a good ol’ Sunday message, live and in color. Then, the next day, we are side eyeing everyone and everything at work and walking around like – “I wish aaaaaaa would.” Oh, so I’m the only one? Okay, Okay. So, maybe you get it right the next day. But, how about the following Sunday after pay day Friday? When you skip on giving your tithes for the 17th time in a row. Whispering “God, I got you on the next check” and slip maybe two dollars in the offering bucket (that’s a whole other blog post) I still ain't pull your card yet? Hmmmm. How about, when you have every curse word from here to South Park coming out of your mouth? Refusing to forgive someone who hurt you, months ago, and they already apologized. Oh, and our generation's favorite one: Already having plans to make it clap for “bae” later. (I know these phrases may be a bit straight forward, but I need y’all to get this thing) So, let’s rewind back to the snot and the surrendering. I’m almost 100% positive when you were there, laying out before the Lord, you really wanted to surrender. The Pastor delivered a message that you felt was directed straight toward you, and you truly desired to change but then over the next few days, you’re back to your old self. What happened? “But, Ariel, I’ve tried repeatedly. I’ve tried to surrender all, but it just didn’t work. I am tired and no matter how hard I try, I end up back where I started.” Trust me, I’ve been there so many times before. So, what is the true meaning of surrender? True surrender is sacrifice. True surrender is giving up that person/place/thing that looks like a yes, when God tells you no. 1. a: the action of yielding one's person or giving up the possession of something especially into the power of another. Surrendering: • Giving up your attitude because something simply didn’t go your way • Forgiving the unforgiveable • Loving the unlovable • Taking your little tail home instead of being laid up with your little boo thang, setting up the atmosphere to get your claps off • Cutting off that television show that you have recorded (every episode) and going to sit at the Lord’s feet to listen to what He has to say about you • Dying to yourself • Clearing the stage for things you have set up as idols But how do I do that? You need to learn how to think like Jesus because I am telling you, you are not going to do it with the mind you have now. Peter 4:1-2 tells us Jesus legit went through everything we are going through. I encourage you to place your whole life before God and literally take everything you do and include him in it. Romans 12:1-2: “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” I am in the middle of a challenge called 30 for 30. The 30 for 30 challenge is when you give your first 30 minutes from the time you wake up to God. Those first 30 minutes can look like anything from turning on your favorite worship song and worshipping Him, writing to God, dancing, singing, crying out to Him about your frustrations or a combination of everything. But, you must be intentional about this time. Your body will fight you, especially if it’s like 6:30 a.m.! It will tell you, just to go back to sleep, you need rest. FIGHT BACK! Fight back like your life depends on it because it does. I encourage you to get a Bible you can understand. I always tell my grandmother, half-jokingly, I have no idea how you continued to be a Christian with the King James version.The King James version doesn’t make any sense to me, but it may for you, I’m just not the smart. Ha! I recommend the message version bible - its legit. I also encourage you to get an accountability partner, someone who will hold you in account for your relationship with Jesus. I am always happy to be that person or connect you with someone. Let me tell you something - contrary to popular belief, you are not perfect and nor will you ever be. God’s love is being PERFECTED in you, and there will be times you mess up, but that’s why we were given Jesus, which is so dope to me. Let me also be real with you - this process will be very uncomfortable and will sometimes make no sense to you (faith). But, I promise there is so much goodness on the other side of your surrender and obedience. God loves you more than anything you can ever imagine, and He wants me to let you know He has a plan for your life and He will blow every bit of your mind if you let him. Just say YES! I had anxiety as I began to prepare this blog post and even as I end it. Which is hilarious because the Lord is like “this is what I’m talking about right here. Cast your cares, child, and write this blog post. It’s called sacrificing and surrendering how you feel for my Glory.” I am surrendering all I am, all who I thought I was and pushing through this feeling of anxiety because I know my life is bigger than how I feel. I know God has given me purpose, and my little raggedy emotions will try to challenge it every step of the way. But, I will not fold. Thank you, Jesus! My prayer is that this blog gives you a fresh perspective and pushes you to surrender your life to Jesus. I hope this moment is the moment where Jesus Christ makes all things new in your life. And for the person who is tired of the same old attempts to clean up your life, the same old dead paths to find joy, your past has haunted you, your future has paralyzed you and no matter how hard you try, you still can't get it together - let me remind you the beauty of the Gospel is this: “Jesus came so that you Would not have to get it together But so that you could offer Him The broken pieces of your fragmented life Your uncertain future And so that all things could be made new.” Let's pray together and say this: “Heavenly Father, I need a new start I need Your grace, I need Your mercy I give my life and all of my sins I turn from my own ways... To trust in you Thank you, Jesus, for dying for me I believe You rose again, to give new life I place my hope in You Make me a brand new person Give me a brand new start And I will live for You All the days of my life.” Grace Mercy Salvation Forgiveness Hope Restoration This is a brand new day You're a brand new person You have a brand new home, in Jesus name.” - A
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If you're like me, at one point in your life, you just felt... funny... about how churches asked you to tithe.
I'm here to set it straight: tithing isn't just about giving to the church, it's about giving directly to God. When I was a kid, I envisioned tithing as all of the money the church received that was then put into a basket and lifted up to heaven to give to God...Not exactly, but it's, as you know, our way of providing the church with the resources they need to do the Lord's work. Malachi 3:10 states that tithing is the ONE area in your life where you can test God's ability. You don't test God by saying, "God if you're real, let a basket of popcorn shrimp appear in front of me right NOW!" Instead, He says that if you return to him just TEN PERCENT (Deuteronomy 14:22) of your earnings, He'll return it back to you - and then some. But if you really wanna see God work, you can tithe a little (or a lot) more than ten percent to see how true God is to His word. Just last week, God placed on my spirit to tithe an additional ten percent of my earnings from the week before. I was like "God... I need that money!" But I did it anyway. A few days later, a security deposit I didn't think I was getting back came in the mail. After splitting it with my roommates, I'd gotten more than $500. Won't He do it!! Another time over the summer, I did an "extra tithe" because I was still interning trying to find my first "big girl job." I worked some extra hours at my internship and was then paid nearly SIX times what my average paycheck would have been! When God - Who owns all of the cattle on the hill, all of the pennies in the world, every piece of all of the riches on the planet - is tested on what He can give you, He COMES THROUGH. Today, I challenge you to put God to the test with your finances. If you're stuck between a rock and a hard place or even if you think you got it - try it out for a few weeks and watch God work. Eventually, you'll get used to tithing as if it's nothing. Prayer: Lord God, thank you for owning every single thing in this world. Thank you for reassuring me that if I put my faith in You instead of in my bank account, I will be greatly rewarded. This week/month/year, I promise to be faithful to You and not be caught up in my circumstances. You said this is the one area I can test you in, so I'm going to do it. Please return to me these tithes according to what You have for me, Your child. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. - L “We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito.”
"But, God, how are you even real?" Does that sound familiar? Are you the, "Oh, how I love Jesus because he cares for me" type of "Christian," when in all reality, that phrase ends in a question mark ..."because he cares for me?" God, how are you even real? I have my head deep in debt. I work paycheck to paycheck. Shoot, I work my tail off, and opportunities are still given to other people. I pray to you over and over again.. and I have yet to fall in love. This emotional roller coaster of what you don't have and who you don't have ends in the question of... God, how are you even real? The "how in the heck did she even get that? She don't love you like I love you" (yes I just referenced Beyoncé) seems to haunt us as we watch other people get what we feel are undeserved blessings. Those prayers of "Lord, I'm tired. Show me who you are!" and my absolute favorite of "God, if you could just show me You, I'll live for you for the rest of my life." They're pretty close to the drunken prayer that you gasp out over the toilet between coughing up a lung. "God, I promise I'll never drink again if You just spare me this time!" Now, you know good and well... What if I told you that those questions are normal? Like, those questions that hold so much vainness and demand are actually legitimate questions that have answers. What if I told you those questions aren't you inquiring about God but instead Him inquiring about you? James 4:8 -- "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." So, let's get to the bottom of this. You want the perfect life, huh? You want to BAM - wake up, breakfast in bed, shower, kiss the finest man/woman in America with stinky breath, have a makeup team there to get you snatched and head to a carefree job that pays you booku money?! Sounds absolutely perfect. But would you still have those "will the real magical Jesus please stand up' questions?" if you had all of those things? Nah, of course not! So are those questions actual desires of your heart? Do you have a true desire to know the Creator of the Universe? Or do you just need someone to blame for the shortcomings in your life? -A As Christians, we are holy.
Holy's definition is simple - "to be set apart." Fresh cheese vs. cheese that's molded. Freshly-picked fruit vs. some that's rotted. It's not as if our composition is different; we're still human, but as followers of Christ, we're set apart as a people who have professed with their mouths and believed in their hearts that Jesus is Lord. That said, what are you doing to set yourself apart from the ways of this world? Do you gossip with the rest of your friend group or do you take the time to pray for those you're discussing? Do you talk to every woman as if she's a piece of meat or do you find a good woman and lead her in a Godly relationship? There are so many instances of ways in which we are set apart, but the true message here is that we often disregard the fact that just because we are IN the world doesn't mean we are OF the world. The things that the world loves are NOT things that we should love. Jealousy, love of money, selfishness, lust... these surely aren't the fruits of the Spirit! Your calling/purpose in life may not be something you've quite figured out yet, but do you really think that's something God will reveal to you when you're cussing people out because they cut you in line at the grocery store? Christians get a great deal of backlash because we're often misinterpreted as a people who think they're better than others. This is not the case! Back in the day, Jesus hung out with tax collectors and widows - people who were of the lowest social ranking in His era. That's not to say he did it because He felt bad for them - conversely, He loved them (and us) SO MUCH He showed the world that as the Son of the King, He's a servant to everyone, including those who've been cast aside by society. If you're struggling to separate yourself from sins of the flesh (aka everyone all of the time), but your friends are saying you're "being lame" or "acting like you're better than them now," it's not them, it's you - but in a good way! How do you expect God's pruning process to take place if you don't make any lifestyle changes? You don't HAVE to get drunk with your friends on the weekend (beware of the checklist - see Sinderella post).. You don't have to go on dates with wo/men who aren't worth your time. Focus on God, and He'll lead you in the ways you should go. Truths: Romans 12:2 states that we are not to conform to the ways of the world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Through the Holy Spirit, this allows us to have the discernment to test and approve what God's will is. In short: don't let "flesh pressure" (because some peer pressure can be good) keep you from growing closer to the Lord and living the life God has called you to live. 1 John 3:13-14 tells us not to be surprised if the world hates you. We are dead to the ways of the world and have new life in Jesus. You're going to encounter some haters! Remind yourself they simply just don't understand you because they don't love Christ. Meditate on 2 Timothy 2:20-24. Prayer: Lord God, thank you so much for loving me so much that you set me apart from this world. I am a new creature, and I delight in the Truth that by the blood of Christ, I am healed. God, please lead and guide me in your Spirit so that I can be transformed in Your image. I long to be like you in every way. Please show me ways in which I can die to my flesh daily and show this world more of You and less of me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. - L |
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