Exposed...

It’s funny how when we really begin to grow in our relationship with Christ we sometimes get to a point where we subconsciously think we’ve reached our “spiritual maturity” peak and there’s nowhere else for us to go.  Oh okay, so just me? Lol.  I have truly been growing and maturing in my walk with Christ and I caught myself thinking that I had worked on every area that I was supposed to work on….and pretty much had everything under control.  If you’ve also felt like this at some point let me politely pop your bubble: we will NEVER be complete in Christ until He returns.  That’s why the saying says “we STRIVE for perfection.”  Meaning we are not perfect.  So if we’re not perfect, then we are still subject to sin….yes, even those of us who are "strong" in our faith. 

"Part of the growing process is when God guts out all the things that aren't like Him....to make us just like Him."

Recently, I was confronted with a particular situation at work where I could have responded one way….but instead I took the low road and chose to respond out of my flesh…meaning what Leah REALLY wanted to say.  I knew the moment I hit send I was wrong for the way I worded what I said….and as a consequence I accidentally sent the email to other people.  See, when you are disobedient and don’t do things out of love…God will deal with you.  In this particular situation…God dealt with me by exposing me.  Here I am in my private life thinking I have everything together….I’m active in church, active in ministry….encouraging people to grow in God…..and all of that is awesome!  However, God had to remind me that I am still not all that I should be.  When we are growing in our walk with Christ….it is an on-going process….meaning we will always be growing.  In this situation, God literally had to show me a side of myself that still wasn’t like Him.  Part of the growing process is when God guts out all the things that aren’t like Him….to make us just like Him.   It’s uncomfortable, it’s frustrating and in this situation extremely embarrassing but it’s all to make us better Christians.

One of the many things I love about God is that He loves us wayyyyy too much to keep us the same way we are! We may think we have it all together, but God looks at the heart.  It’s nice that we take special detail in our outward appearance, but it’s worthless if our life doesn’t match with what we say and how we live.  If we truly want to be people after God’s heart, we have to allow Him to operate on us….rebuild us from the inside out.  Being exposed by my coworkers was a truly humbling experience.  I learned that whether I’m a work or at church I am to deal with everything out of love.  We should be representing Christ no matter where we are or what we do….a lesson that should be well ingrained in me by now, but somehow I forgot this important principle. 

"Dealing with things through love is not only 'the right thing to do' but at the end of the day, it keeps us credible." 

I thank God for grace….the opportunity for me to get it right.  As imperfect people we are going to mess up, it’s inevitable.  The important thing is getting it right.  Although it was not an easy conversation….I did confront my coworker and with all the sincerity in the world, gave her a genuine apology.  Now whether she really accepted this or not….and in some cases people may not, I had done my part.  I saw how God revealed a side of me that wasn’t displaying me in a good light and I learned a valuable lesson about demonstrating love…in everything.  Yes, I know this is not easy…..but it is required if we want to be more like Him.  Dealing with things through love is not only “the right thing to do” but at the end of the day, it keeps us credible.  I want to make sure that how I present myself at church on Sunday…is the exact same way I present myself at work on Monday, in the supermarket on Tuesday, and so on and so on.  God doesn’t expose us to embarrass us, He exposes us to better us.  I know I don't always get it right, but I thank God that He loves me enough to help make me look more like Him. (Proverbs 3:12) So when you end up in a similar situation or even worse situation….make the choice to act differently….choose to act out of love.

-Leah


Bible Study
*For more on this topic, check out the following scriptures:
1 Corinthians 16:14
1 Corinthians 13
1 John 3:18
James 1: 19-21
Luke 6: 27-31
Romans 12:10

It Will Cost You...

In 2 Samuel 24:24 King David makes a very profound statement, but before I tell you what he said let me give you some background on what was going on.  So King David had committed a sin against God (I'm not going to tell you what he did I want you to read it on your own lol) and God punished him by sending a 3-day plague over his entire kingdom. When the plague ended David was instructed to build an altar on Araunah's property.  So David in no position to be disobedient [again] set out to Araunah's land.  When the king and his entire entourage rolled up on Araunah's property you can only imagine this mere commoner's  face. He bowed and asked David of what honor did he owe for the King to visit him. David said he wanted to buy his threshold to build an altar. Araunah does what any of us would have done he offers his threshold for free to the King. Nice gesture right? Now here's where David says something that really stuck with me. He thanked Araunah for his generosity but declined the offer by saying, "I couldn't offer a sacrifice to God that doesn't cost me anything"

"I couldn't offer a sacrifice to God that doesn't cost me anything"

Wow. That one sentence speaks volumes!!! Now of course David already had a grateful spirit at this point since God spared his life...which made him even more more determined to pay God back any way he could.  However, this mentality should be used whether we're in good standing with God or not. Our sacrifices for God should always cost something....if not its not really a sacrifice.

This scripture really speaks to me on a personal level because I can't count the times I've placed God around my life as opposed to placing my life  around God. Spending time with God and being involved in Church is awesome.....as long as its convenient for you. But what about those times when it's not? What about when your friend got you tickets to go see Beyonce` in concert but you promised to teach Sunday School to the kids the same day?  Or for the fellas, someone offered you tickets to see your favorite football team?  For most this isn't even a question of what you would do lol.  But all jokes aside, is God not worth more than Beyonce` or a football game?  We HAVE to get back to the place where our worship is based on sacrifice. Sacrifice means that sometimes we'll have to give up those things that we love the most just to show God that we love Him more.  Believe me this is easier said than done, and that Beyonce` situation is a bit extreme, but it does put things in perspective.  It's not fair of us to demand so much of God, and in return give Him so little.  Especially when the little we do give, still somehow benefits us in the end.  Hmm...now how does that happen? lol  When we love someone so much, we drop everything for them.  Their needs come before ours and we will do anything to show our level of love and commitment for them.....but for some reason....we don't go as hard for Christ.  Why is that?

"You prove your highest level of commitment when you choose one thing over something else."

You prove your highest level of commitment when you choose one thing OVER something else.  Sorry guys, I'm really preaching to myself right now.  I've been finding myself fighting to put my phone down or turn my TV off just so I can spend time with Him and allow Him to feed my soul.   I mean I'm worried about missing an episode of Basketball Wives where (none of them are married mind you) just to sit and read my Bible which literally breathes life into me.  Sounds kinda dumb when I write it out, I know. lol 

You know what else?  Sacrifice doesn't just mean time.  Sacrifice could also mean choosing to not go to certain places...or even worse---who you've been choosing to go to these places with.  Yup, sacrifice is so much more than spending time with God, it's a lifestyle.  Just like your faithful husband/wife wouldn't want you hanging out all night at a strip club, God doesn't want you there either.  Even when everyone else is doing it--correction, especially when everyone else is doing it.  This life of faithfulness to Christ will have to cost you, but it's all so God can give you back more than what you've lost. 

Every time I hear the word sacrifice it reminds me of Abraham, and how he was ready to kill his son, the VERY thing he BEGGED God for...just to show God he loved Him more. I can't say I have a heart like Abraham's just yet, but I'm striving for it everyday.  Jesus committed the ultimate sacrifice by being tortured and murdered on a cross for us...and guess what? Even if He had to go through all of that just for you, one person......He still would have done it. Talk about sacrifice! Christ died just so that we could have the opportunity to be in direct contact with Himself, the creator of life, the planets and the stars, but yet we still struggle with "finding time" to spend with Him. Now that I've called us (myself included) out on this....let's strive to develop an attitude like King David, where we dear not offer God a sacrifice that doesn't cost us anything.  "For His sake, I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, all so I could gain Christ." -Philippians 3:8


-Leah  



 Bible Study
*For more on "Sacrifice" check out these scriptures:
2 Samuel 24:21-24
Deuteronomy 6:5
Philippians 3:8
Romans 12:1-2

Tunnel Vision...

"I will keep you in perfect peace, if you keep your mind stayed on Me." -Isaiah 26:3

As I was writing "Walking on Water" the words "keep your eyes stayed on Christ" really stuck with me for some reason. I begin to really break that down as to what that meant for me and where I am right now. I don't know about you, but I can be easily distracted. I honestly think I have some form of attention deficiency lol, but it's often hard for me to keep my focus. Honestly, that's a common problem for many of us....but the real question is, what are we being distracted by?

"Whatever you feed the most, will grow the most."

I know for me social media is one of my biggest distractions. I find myself stuck on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram way longer than I need to be.  Now let me be clear in saying social media is not the devil. Lol .....But the negative things that you see and read that are subconsciously seeping into your heart and mind...is. I was once told a long time ago that whatever you feed the most will grow the most. If we're constantly feeding our spirit with Facebook/Twitter/Instagram, then we can be certain that this is what will eventually produce in our hearts.  Allowing the influence of social media to take residence in your heart is a very dangerous thing if you are trying to have a heart that's after Christ. It's dangerous because you're opening the door to feed your spirit with more Facebook/Twitter/Instagram than the word of God.

I'll use myself as an example. There was a point in time where I was very content with where I was in life with who was in it and the things that I had. Then I begin to look on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram and saw what other people were doing...and that quickly, my prayer went from "Thank You Lord for blessing me with what I have" to "Lord why don't I have this?" and then frustration and anger begin to set in.  What's funny is we fail to realize that people can make their lives look like WHATEVER they want them to look like on social media!!! lol By focusing on what other people were doing I was now falling in the trap of misconception.  I all the sudden went from gratefulness to discontentment....all because I was looking at other people. Pretty similar to what happened to Peter when he took his eyes off of Christ on the water and he sank. I found myself sinking in my own sorrows off of what I thought I was "supposed" to have.  But that's because I was feeding my spirit with non-spiritual things. I was looking at others instead of concentrating on the many things God was doing in my life.

"If we want more of Christ in our life it starts with our focus."

If we want more of Christ in our life it starts with our focus. Our focus must be Him. Even if that means shutting down a few social accounts to gain that focus back.  Christ lost my attention for a little bit, but it's time for me to go back to having tunnel vision where all I'm looking at is Him.  The moment we stop wanting other people's lives is the moment God can really bless ours.

-Leah

For another great read on the subject of social media, check out this awesome blog post by Emily Wilson: complexsimplicite.tumblr.com  

*For additional reading on keeping your focus on Christ check out these scriptures:

Isaiah 26:3

Proverbs 4:25

Hebrews 12:1-2