Staying In God's Word

Yeah, it's almost been a month since I've written a blog! I've had a lot to say and ideas written down, this one just seemed too important to share first. Do you have the time for a story? Good, I have one to share?

I had gotten to the point where I would read my devotion and Bible every morning, spend time journaling, all the things. Then, life was getting busy and and 'life-ing' and got to where I would have my 20 minutes of silence with God every morning and even read just the devotion (not the scripture for that day) and be like 'yeah I'm good!'. Then, it hit the point where it wasn't good. I was good at times and knew God and that He loved me, then I'd question every single thing I was so sure and confident about earlier. I would question and question and question and doubt and fear and just normal human emotions. I even got to where I was complaining. This isn't easy to share with you, this is real, raw, authentic, ugly, and truth. Yet, sometimes it's necessary to share failures and the ugly so we can show how much God loves us and can turn anything ugly into beautiful!

I had a conversation with my mentors/big brother and sister in Christ Saturday night that I knew would be tough and I would cry (I'm definitely the cryer in all situations good or bad😂). One of the biggest things I had gotten from that conversation was the reminder of the importance for me to build my relationship with my Heavenly Father. I knew I had done some things, that I definitely talked to God everyday, but I hadn't touch the Bible in a while and that was a huge part of the reason I was having such a tough time.

Sunday morning, I finally sat down, tuned out ALL distractions (including Luka and Ruthie😂) and was like, 'God, we're gonna sit here and do this'. Man, WHEN I TELL YALL I WENT FROM EMOTIONAL AND SAD TO JOYFUL, HAPPY, AND FEELING MORE PEACE! I mean, I went from my 20 mintues in silence praying for peace and understanding more to where my heart felt at peace again and like this huge weight was lifted off. THAT'S the power of God and His Word, staying in His Word! That's only a snippet of why it's so powerful and important to be in The Word. I remember yesterday while I was journaling, God gave me the idea of writing this blog. I wanted to do it, yet I wanted to make sure it was based on God and His Word and wanted 'evidence' or specific scripture to support. The devotion for yesterday was called 'Be A Good Soldier', and Kenneth Copeland talked about when we give our life to Jesus Christ, we become soldiers of Jesus, and with that comes hardships. Yet, the good news is we are equipped for the victory. I got to reading more of the devotion and the scriptures for the day, and a light bulb went off in my brain!

Satan doesn't attack random things for no reason. I gotta give him little props- he's patient, he studies us to know what may cause us to fail or fall off, what keeps us down, what holds us back, so on and so on. I believe he also knows the power of not just reading God's Word, but studying it, understanding it, keeping it on our hearts and minds. He will do whatever he can to distant us from God, from the truth, from spending that time with God, so he'll throw distractions, life, anything he can. Sometimes it's simply us lacking self control and/or the discipline. We're human, we aren't perfect, and we're going to make mistakes. What's also beautiful is the devotion had me read Galatians 5, which is now officially one of my favorite books in the Bible. Paul goes into God's grace and how gracious God is to us AND how to have grace for others. He also talked about placing our trust in God, and I got a whole word on that topic that'll wait for another blog! Let my story and recent experience simply be a loving reminder that being in the Word is soo important, and if you feel off or under attack, get in the Word!

'It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.' Galatians 5:1