Steadfast, Beloved

Week 6 Day 3; Adaptability Galatians 5:13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Jesus has set us free; it is for freedom we are set free. And where the Spirit is, there is liberty. Not only have we been set free, Jesus called us by name. He said 'follow me'. Being a disciple of Christ means to imitate Christ. Jesus told us the world will know we are HIs disciples by how we love one another. This sis the new commandment; that we love as CHrist loved. Jesus didn't love in order to make Himself greater than another (although He is King and Lord); He loved in humility. I know I mentioned this in anohter IBS, but the body plays a big role in this. When the body is seeking the Lord, social status shouldn't matter. Instead, we will be looking for opportunities to serve another like Jesus did. But 'one another' doesn't just go for the body, it applies to all that...

Week 6 Day 2; Adaptability 1 Corinthians 9:22 "to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." Jesus became man that He could relate to us. This is a beautiful picture of how loving our Father is. Tonihgt we had a hospital outreach where we were blessed to pray over two women. Their young infants were hospitalized for quite some days. As we began to pray, the Lord softened my heart to the situation and these women. We all began to cry out to the Lord over the young children. In this moment, I felt the heaviness of carrrying somenoe else's burden. I was overwhelmed by the Lord's precence and I truly believe He revealed Himself to these women. Tonight, through Jesus, He made me weak, that He might be glorified and these women eyes be open. Application: Write this prayer in my prayer journal and pray for them every day this week.

Week 6 Day 1; Adaptability Ephesians 5:21 "submitting to one another in the fear of God." Submission isn't a suggestion; it's a command from the Lord. He lovingly asks us to submit to Him because He knows what's best for us. Submitting to others seems like a hard thing to do, but God asks us to be wise especially in those we fellowship with. If we are in communion with our fellow brothers and sisters, we will all hopefully be seeking the will of God. Then, it will become easy to submit to each other as we both seek the Lord. The body will always have times when there comes dissagreement, but we can all agree on truth God has clearly shown us. With Jesus at the center, submission to others and ultimately God becomes joy. Application: This week I will pray to surrender more of my will for God's.

Week 5 Day 5; Obedience Hebrews 13:17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable to you. Being in Ignite has been such a blessing to me through all the staff who give up their time and rights to serve us. With that, we should be respectful and listen to what they have to say. This verse has reminded about what Austin talked about eariler this week about being a liability versus an asset. We signed up fot this program to surrender our rights and privleges because we wanted to see change. If we continue to walk in our own ways because we think we know better, we're only hurting ourselves. We're wasting their time and effort when their just trying to bless us and help us seek the Lord. Who wouldn't want that? So many times I have found myself becoming overwhelmed by the amount of things I need to do that I just end up not getting...

Week 5 Day 4; Obedience Ephesians 6:1 "Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." Colossians 3:20 "Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord." I always thought I was the obedient child. Once my younge siblings entered the picture and cause havoc, I desired attention by being obedient. I always did was I was told without hesitataion. As I grew older, things began to change. There wasn't any real authority in our household and so I did whatever pleased my flesh. I was still obedient and respectful to an adult's face, but behind their backs I lived a life obedient to myself. Even though my parents never corrected me in my ways,  I knew the difference between right and wrong. I knew the consquences agasint my Heavenly Father. I had to come to a point in my life of exhaustion from my own ways. I became sick of my own selfishness. It wasn't until the Lord broke me in multiple ways, that I truly found j...

Week 5 Day 3; Obedience Romans 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you ae that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? "Choose this day whom you will serve", Joshua 24:15. Before coming to Christ I was living for myself everyday. I didn't realize that you can only serve two masters; God or Satan. Living for myself was essentially living for the devil himself. I lived in ignorance of who I was following. There was an evident stronghold on my life. I was captive to sin; a slave. When I ran to freedom, it seemed there were more temptations and struggles. I knew in this time there was such a thing as spiritual warfare. This had proved to me God was real and so were the experiences. It's a scary thing to be in midst of, but I believe God was walking me through it to test my obedience to Him. Everyday I had a choice to make. To give in or fight. I so badly wanted all tha...

Week 5 Day 2; Contentment 2 Corinthians 10:5- casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Many of us have struggled with fighting agaisnt someone. Whether it was a sibling, someone you love, or someone you don't; we've all been there. It's okay to bring different opinions and views into a conversation, but there is always a fine line. There may come a time when the boundary is crossed, and someone feels hurt. I have been on both sides. On one side, your pride is built up and your words are not sensitive. Sensitive to the other person, but also to the Spirit. On the other side, you're offended and walls build up. You believe you can never come to this person without feeling put down. Keith Wheeler said this, "How much you love God depends on how much you love your worst enemy." If we always remembered this concept in the front of our minds, how w...