Forever Yours Thankfully

What am I thankful for? (2013) 

God’s love. grace. forgiveness. mercy. sovereignty. 

#1- God

God breathed life into me 23 years ago, and for that I am thankful, that He thought of me before I was even born. God never let me go out of His hands and when I was in 8th grade God let me experience Him in an intimate relationship with Him for the first time in my life. He became my Father. I fell more in love with Him as I studied Him at Biola University, the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, and then, at the time that I least deserved Him, He loved me more than I ever thought possible. He literally saved me from my worst low in life, and He lifted me right off the ground into His loving arms. I am so thankful for who God is to me. He is my Father. He is my Savior. He is my joy. He is my healer. He is my redeemer. He is my lover. He is my grace. He is my leader. He is my love. He is my sight. He is my all. I am only because of who He is. 

Nov. 28. 2013

Clarity

I want to share with you what God taught me in church last Sunday night. It’s regarding how our lives are an ongoing conversation with God, and how God speaks to us. People, myself including might say they’ve never heard the actual physical voice of God, they might feel things, but how do they know what is from God and not just from themselves? How do we know where God wants us to go? Walking down a path if both paths seem good, and we ask God which way he wants us to go, right or left, how do we hear His answer? How does he speak to us? Then often times I get frustrated and stuck in one spot, because I haven’t heard from God yet which way he wants me to go, to the right or to the left. Should I not get out of bed until God tells me to? Should I not brush my teeth until God tells me to? Should I not put my shoes on until God tells me to? God DOES speak to us, sometimes in the simplest ways such as our thoughts. He speaks to us through His word. And God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. Maybe I won’t ever get a clear answer from God about taking the right or the left path in life, but what I can do is trust Him as I make a decision. God doesn’t have to tell us every little detail about our lives which He knows, that’s sometimes for Him to keep to Himself, we don’t need to know the unknown in order to trust in God. We can ask God which way He wants us to go and maybe He’ll tell us and maybe He won’t; maybe He’ll start to tell us or tell us both ways are ok but one may be better. Maybe God doesn’t want us to know. The point is we don’t need clarity from God in order to trust Him. I can’t believe I used to live my life holding back my complete trust from God before I knew the complete details of His plan. What was I thinking? Those are my selfish wants getting in the way of who God made me to be, His faithful daughter. I don’t need clarity from God, the only thing I need is to trust Him. Don’t get me wrong, of course I will be asking and listening to God in everything I do and say, and I’m sure the more I ask and listen the more I will hear from God and God will speak to me in endless ways, but I don’t need Him to give me all the answers I want to hear, all I need to do is trust Him. I don’t need to know if God will miraculously heal my mom in 5 years from now, but I do need to trust Him right now. I don’t need God to tell me exactly what will happen and where He wants me to go after I get my degree, but I will trust Him with what He has enabled me with and I will trust God that He will put to the pieces together for me; whether I know it is happening or not. God will lead the way for me to go, even in the dark. All I need is faith, to trust Him.