Trust His Timing

Happy Monday! I thought I would start out my week by looking back at my very first post on this blog. All the way back in 2011. Talk about an enlightening experience... My first post was all about Romans 12. [Which I am still working my way through by the way.] This is what I wrote 3 years ago, 

"There are so many great truths in this chapter but the end of verse 3 was the first thing that stuck out to me. I read and re-read it and let it really sink in. Our lives are not meant to please ourselves. Just let that last sentence sink in for a second.

Are you living your life to please yourself?

Are you doing what you want to do just because you want to do it?

Have you asked God for direction in your life?'

I am praying very specifically about my future and everything that I am feeling in my heart to do in the future. And I am still chewing on the same verse I was in 2011. I think it's a verse that you can constantly use to keep yourself in check. 

Those last 3 questions are the same questions that I am asking myself and praying about right now.
 Are you living your life to please yourself?

Are you doing what you want to do just because you want to do it?

Have you asked God for direction in your life?
 My answers are a lot different than they were in 2011. I am not the same person I was in 2011. Hooray for growth! In 2011 God started me on a wild, crazy, and somewhat scary journey of owning my own business. Now, almost 4 years into that crazy journey of surrendering everything to God, I can still sense God working in it but also, wanting to bring more abundant life into well... my life.
What is that going to look like? I don't know. 
What will that require from me? I don't know. 
Will it be scary? Um, yes I am sure of it. 
Will it be exciting? YES! 
Will God equip me to tackle whatever He chooses to bring my way? You better believe it.
I am fully understanding myself as a child of God every time He confirms his will and direction for me. I am submerging myself in His word and getting an "ah-ha" moment every time speaks truth and gives me 'two thumbs up' to the desires he has put inside my heart. I am at a point where I am no longer relying on myself and what I can do for Him but what He wants to do for me. 
A COMPLETE SURRENDER TO HIS WILL FOR MY LIFE.
"It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone."
Ephesians 1:11-12

Tweetable Truths

I have been listening to Tree of Life podcasts of their Sunday words in anticipation of visiting in April. My cousin, Gabe is the Pastor of this church. I love hearing what God is saying to him and his congregation. I like to call his words, tweetable truths. Everything is so on point and can be condensed to 140 characters. He keeps it real. Each of his messages will speak into your life, challenge you, and encourage you in your relationship with God. I know it is challenging me. I am so encouraged to have a cousin that is a man of God and providing a great example to all of us primos under him.
(Trust me... there are a lot of cousins in my family.)
Feel free to tweet out any of the truths that I have gotten from his words. 

• You will often experience breakthrough outside of your comfort zone.
• God never changes, so my future is secure.
• When I understand that God is a person, I will be more personable with him.
• If you teach, people will come to learn. It doesn’t matter where you are. 
• There is nothing too difficult for God. God is all powerful.
• We treat people based on their value to us.
• God is a promise keeper.
• You don’t fail, you just keep taking the test again.
• Jesus did not come to modify your behavior, He came to modify your thinking.
• In the kingdom of God you receive first before you do anything. 
• No one can tell you who you are but God. 
• God is not finished with you yet. He will never give up on you. 
• Righteousness is correctness of thinking. 

What does the Bible say about TESTS?

Tests. 

Ew, no one likes them. Right now high school students are breathing a sigh of relief because end of semester exams are done. College students are prepping and cramming for their next exam. Whether you're in school or not, tests will always be a part of life. Life tests are not pass or fail. 

They are pass and continue to work to pass. 

And even when you pass the test, you may have to pass it over and over again.

1 Corinthians 10:13

No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

James 1:2-4

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

What does the Bible say about PRIDE?

My favorite thing to do when I hear a little nugget of truth is to go here and type in the subject. Recently it has been pride. OUCH. The nugget of truth that led to this was,
"The more you admit you can't do something, you stab pride and kill it."
I am someone who likes to control of what I do the majority of the time. I am not one to easily admit that I can't do something. I will work hard to figure it out on my own. I have a hard time delegating. I enjoy hearing a "good job" or "wow, what you did is great!" (I mean who doesn't like to hear that?) But all those compliments feed my pride when God is taken out of the equation. 

Proverbs 10:17
The road to life is a disciplined life;
    ignore correction and you’re lost for good.

Proverbs 11:2

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

Proverbs 29:23

Pride lands you flat on your face; humility prepares you for honors.

The opposite of pride is humility. Humble yourself unto others and God. He will give you grace to wipe away the pride. The more I honor God with what I do and use my life for Him the less it becomes all about me. 

John 3:30 
He must increase and I must decrease. 
1 Peter 5:6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
Luke 14:11
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Friendships

Friendships are important. The right friendships are even more important. 

A friend can hold you accountable for everything that you say and do. 
A friend can let you know if your shoes don't work with your outfit. 
A friend will always remember your birthday. 
A friend will pick you up when you fall. (or laugh at you, if they're a close friend.) 
A friend will listen. 
A friend knows your coffee order. 
A friend says nice things about you even when you're not around. 
A friend understands that most of the time, chocolate will solve the problem. 
A true friend is revealed during hard times. 
A friend forgives. 
A friend will dream big with you. 
A friend is always happy to see you. 
A friend will have no shame when singing in the car with you. 
A friend is someone who knows all about you and still chooses to be your friend. 

But what does the bible say about friendships? 

Proverbs 13:20 

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Proverbs 17:17

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. 

Proverbs 27:17

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. 

Proverbs 18:24

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Job 6:14

He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. 

Proverbs 27:19

As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man. 

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 

Proverbs 22:24

Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.