ARE YOU BUILDING GOD'S KINGDOM INSIDE OF YOU ?

12/4/2019

AS THE YEAR WINDS DOWN I AM TAKING THE TIME TO LOOK BACK AND ANALYZE MY LIFE IN A REALLY SPECIFIC WAY. MANY TIMES IN THE PAST I HAVE LOOKED BACK ON MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND GOALS. I HAVE CATALOGUED AND REMINISCED ON ALL THE COOL THINGS I HAVE DONE, AND THOUGHT ABOUT THOSE BUCKET LIST ITEMS THAT NEVER CAME TO FRUITION. MAYBE NEXT YEAR ….. THIS YEAR IS DIFFERENT. GOD HAS BEEN WORKING ON ME THIS PAST YEAR TO GROW UP, AND TO GROW HIS KINGDOM INSIDE OF ME. THERE WERE TIMES IN THE PAST WHERE I THOUGHT GOING TO CHURCH ONCE IN A WHILE AND BEING SAVED WAS ENOUGH. SOMETIMES I WOULD EVEN PICK UP THE BIBLE AND READ A FEW VERSES OR CHAPTERS. I EVEN JOINED A BIBLE STUDY ONE YEAR, BUT AFTER A FEW WEEKS EVERYONE WAS JUST TOO BUSY TO MAKE IT A PRIORITY, SO IT JUST KIND OF ENDED. WE ALL HAVE BUSY LIVES AND SOMETIMES MANAGING OUR TIME CAN SEEM IMPOSSIBLE. I HAVE GROWN UP A LOT IN THE LAST FEW YEARS IN MY FAITH, BUT I ALWAYS FELT I WAS READY FOR MORE. MORE, MORE, MORE ! MORE UNDERSTANDING, MORE PURPOSE, MORE IMPACT AND MOVEMENT. I REMEMBER ASKING GOD IN MY PRAYER TIME A QUESTION THAT HAS TRULY CHANGED MY YEAR AND MY LIFE. “ LORD, WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR ME AND FROM ME, AND WILL YOU PLEASE SHOW ME HOW TO GET THERE “ ? I FOUND THE ANSWER, AND I KNEW IT WAS THE PIECE THAT WAS MISSING.

TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING; IN ALL YOUR WAYS SUBMIT TO HIM, AND HE WILL MAKE YOUR PATHS STRAIGHT. Proverbs 3: 5-6

HE HAS SHOWN YOU, O MORTAL, WHAT IS GOOD. AND WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU ? TO ACT JUSTLY AND TO LOVE MERCY AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD. Micah 6:8

NEITHER SHALL THEY SAY, ‘SEE HERE !’ OR ‘SEE THERE !’ FOR INDEED, THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU. Luke 17:21

THIS YEAR HAS BEEN FILLED WITH A HUNGER FOR GOD, IN EVERY ASPECT OF MY LIFE. I AM MAKING A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO PRIORITIZE HIM ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE IN MY LIFE. I THIRST FOR HIS WORD, AND I AM SPENDING TIME IN THE BIBLE EVERY SINGLE DAY. I START MY PRAYER TIME VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING, BECAUSE EVERY MORNING I FIND MYSELF WIDE AWAKE, AND I KNOW MY SLEEP IS OVER, AND GOD LITERALLY WANTS ME IN PRAYER ! I FOCUS MY PRAYER ON EVERYONE IN MY LIFE, AND SPECIFICALLY ON THEIR NEEDS, BOTH SPOKEN AND UNSPOKEN. I ALSO PRAY FOR OUR WORLD…..THAT GOD WOULD BRING PEACE, BLESSINGS AND HOPE TO EVERYONE IN ALL PLACES AND CIRCUMSTANCES. MY PRAYER FEELS CONTINUOS THE ENTIRE DAY….LIKE BEING IN A CONTINUAL CONVERSATION WITH GOD ABOUT EVERYTHING. I AM READING A LOT, AND MY READING IS TAKING ME INTO KINGDOM, AND ABIDING IN CHRIST, AND SEEKING WRITINGS ON A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF GOD’S WORD. DEEPER, DEEPER, AND DEEPER INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD. I AM WRITING MY BLOG, BUT WRITING FROM WHAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD TELLS ME TO WRITE. ONLY TRUTH AND EXPERIENCE THAT WILL ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO SEEK JESUS, AND GIVE THEIR LIFE TO HIM. JESUS….THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING. THE GIFT OF THE CROSS, AND HOW IT HAS TRANSFORMED ME. REBORN IN HIM, MY SINS WASHED AWAY BY HIS BLOOD, AND MY LIFE EMPOWERED BY HIS NAME ! REALIZING THAT HE IS FILLING MY LIFE WITH PEOPLE THAT LOVE HIM TOO, AND WILL FELLOWSHIP WITH ME, AND SHARPEN ME AS A MAN, A HUSBAND, AND A FATHER. GROWING IN HIM, AND BUILDING HIS KINGDOM INSIDE OF ME SO THAT I MAY SERVE HIM, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY SHARE HIM !

BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO PERSEVERES UNDER TRIAL BECAUSE, HAVING STOOD THE TEST, THAT PERSON WILL RECEIVE THE CROWN OF LIFE THAT THE LORD HAS PROMISED ALL WHO LOVE HIM. James 1:12

AS YOU WIND DOWN YOUR YEAR, PERHAPS IT IS TIME TO TAKE A LOOK AT GOD’S KINGDOM INSIDE OF YOU. DO YOU HAVE A FOUNDATION ? DO YOU LOOK INSIDE YOURSELF AND SEE SOME BUILDING GOING ON ? IS THE LIGHT ON ? IS THERE ACTIVITY ? IS THERE HOPE ? THE CHOICE TO MAKE CHANGES AND RESET PRIORITIES IS ONLY DONE IN OURSELVES. OUR HEARTS HAVE TO DESIRE IT, AND OUR ACTIONS HAVE TO REFLECT IT. FOR ME, THE REALIZATION OF WHAT JESUS DID FOR ME, HAS GIVEN TO ME, AND IS HOLDING FOR ME WHEN I SEE HIM FACE TO FACE IS ALL THE PROMISE I NEED. MAY IT ALSO BE FOR YOU, AND MAY YO SEEK GOD EARNESTLY EVERY DAY GOING FORWARD :)

OH LORD, GOD OF ISRAEL, THERE IS NO GOD LIKE YOU IN HEAVEN OR ON EARTH, KEEPING COVENANT AND SHOWING STEADFAST LOVE TO YOUR SERVANTS WHO WALK BEFORE YOU WITH ALL THEIR HEART. 2 Chronicles 6:14

PEACE AND HOPE/JA