Biblical Views and Study

5 (More) Ways to Pray for Your Community

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Most moms want to find the perfect community to raise their family in, but what we sometimes forget is that even the strongest communities need prayer. Here are 5 ways you can pray for the community you live in.

Moms, I get it. A lot of us painstakingly search for that perfect community for our kids to grow up in, and we’re so careful to find the right fit for our children; we want them to have a successful, happy, carefree life, and that starts with a happy, carefree childhood. Some of us don’t have a say in the community we live in, but still want it to be the best possible place to raise our children into kind, compassionate, God-fearing adults. That’s why a little over a year ago, I shared a post about 5 ways to pray for your community, because I know we all want to remember our community in prayer as our children go. But now, I’d really like to share 5 more ways you can raise your community up in prayer.

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How to Start Art Journaling Your Bible Study

- Mama 1 Comment

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and DaySpring, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #DayspringSadieRob http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

If you're wanting to feel a deeper connection to the scripture, or meditate on it more, try art journaling your verses. Regardless of your skill level or your medium, it's a great thing to incorporate into Bible study. Here are some tips to get you started. #DayspringSadieRob #liveoriginal #PMedia #ad

Sometimes I feel disconnected. Like… I am reading the words God is putting in front of me during Bible study, but like they’re not always connecting as well as I’d like. It’s not my comprehension. It’s my worry– it’s the constant string of thoughts on my mind that prevents me from fully disconnecting with the world and connecting with God in that peaceful, calm, quiet moment. As I read, it seems my mind is on a million to-dos, all of the things I haven’t accomplished. And I needed a way to disconnect. I really, truly did. I thought about how much I love to meditate over a coloring page or any other form of art. And then I realized… “I can do that with the Bible. I can have that meditative disconnect between me and the world so I can hear what God is saying to me.” So, I decided to make Bible art journaling a priority.

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16 Bible Verses About Giving Money and Time

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All verses are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise stated.

Go beyond the 10%... if you're tithing, here are some verses you MUST read about giving your time and money (and how to give the right way!)

We’ve all heard verses like 2 Corinthians 9:6, which says “Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop,” but have you thought about what it means to give generously? It may actually not be about the dollar signs, but instead about your heart in giving. We sometimes get caught up in tithing begrudgingly, but what does God really say about giving? Here are some verses that will help you as you give this year.

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5 Ways to Pray for Your Community

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With today being the National Day of Prayer, there’s a lot of interest in focusing our prayers on the National level. It is so common for us to get into our bubble and pray for our family, ourselves, the leaders in our own church, or close friends and family who have a need. What I love about the National Day of Prayer is that it’s reminding us to pray for our government, for our leaders, and for the things that affect us as a whole, nationally.

However, I also think that it is incredibly important for people to spend time praying for their local communities, not just on one specific day, but in the same way as they’d pray for family, friends, themselves, their job, their stress, and the other things on the prayer list. Not as a duty, but as something that comes naturally, like breathing.

But when it comes time to pray for your own community, it can be hard to think of what prayer the community really needs. Where is there a prayer need? I decided to take a walk and think about how I could best pray for my community.

As I walked, I realized a natural way to do this was to pray for neighbors. I encourage you to try this, as well, walking past your neighbors’ homes on a prayer walk and praying for those who live near you. Maybe you live in an apartment, where you have lots of neighbors all in your building, or maybe you’re in the country or on a farm where your closest neighbors could be even miles away. Either way, pray for those who are around you. If you know of a specific need your neighbor has, pray for that. If not, pray that God will be present in whatever needs they may have, or whatever they may be facing. If you don’t know what prayer needs they have, it’s a good opportunity to get to know your neighbors and see if there is a tangible way you can serve them.

From there, you can pray for the leadership in your local community. Ask God to help your town’s leadership and put his hand on the leaders in your town, in all of the various roles, from the Mayor and the City Council, to the School Board, Superintendent, and Principals, to the local community boards. Our town, for example, has a Fall Festival Committee, and that’s a specific leadership group that needs prayer right there alongside those who are working on the day-to-day needs of the town. It’s important to pray that God put his hand on those who are making decisions for the town, and praying that they will make decisions that honor Him.

As you pray for the leadership, pray for the local schools, as well. Pray that the teachers will raise up strong children who become future leaders themselves. Pray for the bullies, that their hearts will soften, and for the bullied, that they can stand strong in the face of adversity. Pray for the principals as they make decisions running their schools, for the nurses to have a healing touch, for school law enforcement and school resource officers to keep kids safe, and for the students that their minds and hearts will be open to education, and to the Lord. Pray for the safety as kids are at school, and pray for the students’ home lives, as well.

One area that sometimes gets overlooked is praying for churches in your community. Often, we all feel this tendency to pray for our own church or our own pastor, or our own youth or leadership teams, but we forget that there are many churches that work together in a community to spread the Gospel. Pray for other churches in your community, and your own church, that these churches reach out, practice active outreach, serve others, and welcome the community with open arms. Pray that the Youth in each church are being shaped and led into active, spirited followers of Christ, that the leadership in the church is sound, and that each church in your community is an active and loving representation of the Body of Christ. Pray for each church that their needs are met and that they are able to serve the Lord well.

Finally, pray for the service programs in your community that they are reaching those in need. If your town has a local food pantry or clothing closet, pray that the people who need those services are getting them. If your town has a multiservice center that helps with various needs, pray they’re meeting the needs of the community. Pray that even groups like library storytime are meeting the families who need it, that if even one mom needs that connection with someone, or if even one child needs a meal, or if even one person needs a warm coat, that the service programs in the community are touching those who need each program the most. If you feel a tug on your heart, consider contacting these programs and finding out where you can personally serve beyond prayer, but start praying that each of these programs is helping exactly who they need to help, and that each has the resources, donations, and volunteers to sustain their program and continue serving in the community.

When a community has individuals praying for it, or even a group of people praying for it, that community can become stronger. When those prayers are put into action and service, it helps even one step further to strengthen the community and make it a better place to live, not just for those praying, but for everyone in the community. And I think we can all agree that a community that has people praying for it and serving it is a community that will be blessed again and again.

 

You can find 5 more ways to pray for your community here, and then also 7 ways to pray for your children.

Can you think of a way to pray for your local community that I might have missed? Please share it in the comment section below!

A New Creation

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Something new. See, a lot of people think about newness around the beginning of the New Year, when we’re setting resolutions and considering the new year and all of the possibilities that it holds. But really, you know when I think of something new? I think of it in Spring, when I start to see all of the growth around me, the new life and fresh creations springing up.

We have this nest on our Sunroom. Every year for as long as we’ve had it, these birds have nested there, and every spring, we get two or three families using the nest. There is even a possibility that some babies born in that nest have come back to nest in that very same nest. Every season, birds come, and repair the damage that winter has caused, and then create new life, eggs that hatch. That, to me, is when things are new, when I see the newness of God’s creation.

We constantly seem to want “new” things in life. I know I’m not alone in seeing the newest version of the smartphone I use being released and wanting desperately to upgrade for a few new features. When I was feeling stuck in a rut, I went and got a new haircut, thinking that the newness would help me feel transformed and shake things up.

So many times, we want a new purse for the new season, or a new swimsuit for spring break, or new new new. But we so often fail to realize that, no matter how many external things we change, we really can’t change some things.

I mean, think about it. You can change your clothing, but you’re still you under that clothing. You can get a new haircut or a new phone, but it’s still you in there. You still have all of those same things you struggle with, your same fears, insecurities, worries about the past or the future, concerns about life in general. No matter how many things you change, from your gadgets to your clothing, are really going to transform the you that is inside of you.

To be honest, all of those external changes really just don’t do a lot. However, there is one great way to get new life, to become a NEW you, to have that new creation feeling.

The Bible makes it clear how we can get that new life. It happens in Jesus Christ. When we go to Him (or return to Him, depending on where you’re at in your journey), you can have that internal change. It isn’t a change on the outside, and it may seem less subtle than new clothes or a new haircut. You’ll still look like you, but you’ll have this new internal buzz.

See, when you find, or even re-find, Christ, you become someone new. It’s in Christ that we can fully experience love, joy, hope… peace. True peace. That inspiration comes fully from Christ, that TRUE God-love, that God-joy, and God-hope, and God-peace. The kind that you just can’t get without Him.

While of course, if you want that new smartphone or that new haircut, you should get it if you have the ability, it will not change how you feel inside. That executive with the 6 figure income, snappy suit, and great hair? He may be rotting inside, miserable, hopeless, stuck in a cycle of sin he can’t break out of. But the hobo on the corner that the executive tosses a nickel to? He may be happy, despite his disheveled clothing and scraggly beard. Outward appearance isn’t an indicator of an inward spiritual gain.

I think sometimes we get so caught up in things… how we look. That new bikini we want to fit into. That new purse we have to have. I do it, too. And those things are okay. Don’t get me wrong. But we’re so hung up on this world, and how we look and what we have, that we’re missing the point of what new life, new creation, newness is really all about.

You have to consider what new, amazing life you can have when you have Jesus. Think about what he said in John 10:10, “I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.” Wow. I mean, that, beyond just having life, God wants us to have ABUNDANT life. That’s powerful. That’s a very full life.

I think a big example of the full extent of this new life comes in John 2:19. Think about an old house. You see it there, maybe on your evening walk. There are shingles missing, entire door frames falling apart, rotting wood. You know there’s probably some internal damage, that the house just isn’t what it used to be. Rather than taking and renovating that house, Jesus describes a complete rebuilding. An entirely new creation, something new that wasn’t there, a rebuilt life rather than a renovated one. We can sit and make little changes, but until we are rebuilt, a NEW creation, we will always find something missing in our lives.

It’s time for something new. Spring is the perfect time for that newness. See, I’m sure by now, a lot of you have your New Years Resolutions going one of two ways: either you’ve abandoned them entirely, or you’ve been working on them enough that they’ve become a new habit in your life, rather than a short-term goal you made. Because of that, it’s time to set some new goals, and replenish that newness.

Not in the short term, not something like weight loss, or quitting smoking, though things like that are admirable. But to be honest, as Christians, we have a lifetime goal. This is a resolution that you keep your entire life.

When you’re a new creation, new in Christ, a completely rebuilt structure, it’s time to share with the world your new life. We want to live life with purpose. Our God given purpose is to see everything in the light of that NEW life, NEW creation we are. That doesn’t mean you have to be preachy all the time, and go shunning friends who don’t agree with you or going all Westboro Baptist Church on anyone. It means that you have to be concerned with the welfare of the soul of those around you, and even those not around you.

An ambassador for Christ, which all of us should be, as a new creation in him, knows the heart of Christ, and stays in constant communication with Christ through prayer and action. An ambassador for Christ will keep his heart set on Christ’s interests, and represent Christ. That ambassador is ready to be with Christ at a moment’s notice. If we are only living for the here, the now, this earth, then we’re betraying God’s trust with our behavior and actions. As a new creation, we have to consider C.S. Lewis’s words: “All that is not eternal is eternally useless.” It’s true, those eternal things are what matter the most.

Anyone in Christ will be experiencing the newness of life every day. By putting your trust in Christ, by relying on him, you have that newness. Because we’ve all fallen short of the glory of God, by knowing we’d never be good enough by our own efforts, we HAVE to have a change of heart to fully become new.

We have to make that heart change, not a surface change, to be a new creation in Christ. Without that, we’ll never make it.

So yeah, buy your new Spring break swimsuit. Find a cute new haircut that you love. But this spring, when you’re looking around at all of the newness of life, seeing the new birds and new flowers and new life, it’s time to renew our hearts, too. It’s time to not just renovate, but rebuild. It’s time for us to focus on being a new creation in Christ, and sharing that newness with others, from the inside out, making an internal change, not just for this season, but for good.

I’ve designed this printable of a verse that really rings true to me, in 8×10, and in 4 colors. You can print it, hang it somewhere visible, or just keep it somewhere safe to remind you of this new life. Remember that, in a season of all things new, this is a forever thing, to be New in Christ.

You can download the printables here, choose your favorite, and print.

Love When Oceans Rise (With free printable)

- Mama 1 Comment

With today being Valentine’s day, a lot of us are naturally thinking about love. It’s tossed towards us through commercials and greeting cards, mushy love songs and that cubicle neighbor getting a flower delivery.

We see images of an idealized love thrown at us from every angle on Valentine’s day. And I think, to some degree, we all have that craving for love, to be wooed or romanced on Valentine’s day. Going to a Christian college, there were some girls (while they were hardly the majority, of course) who were devastated if they didn’t get a proposal from the boy they met at the fall back to school events by V-Day. There’s this underlying promise in the air– every kiss begins with Kay, he went to Jared, your friends in the diamond business, all of those slogans give you this fluttery feeling that love is represented by gifts.

And yes, some people do express their love through giving gifts. Gary Chapman talks about giving and receiving gifts as being one of the five love languages in his book, The Five Love Languages. However, I must insist that Valentine’s Day? Well, it really IS just a trick of the greeting card industry.

I’m not saying that to be Anti-Valentine’s Day. On the contrary– I love V-Day. I love getting swept up in the pinks and reds and, duh, the chocolate. And, even when I am flying solo on Valentine’s Day, I love being able to share my love with the people I love, like my son or other family. I love that we have a whole day to celebrate LOVE.

But honestly… how many of us, on Valentine’s Day, consider the fact that love is way more than chocolate and greeting cards and fresh flowers and glittery diamonds? How many of us stop to think about what Love… L-o-v-e with a capital L… really means, what it’s truly all about? Or are we just all caught up in the kissy-faced commercials and crooning of love songs to notice that love is about so much more?

You see, the love that we know, the love we express to others, it’s amazing. But it’s conditional. We place conditions and limits on our love. If we didn’t, parents wouldn’t stop speaking to their kids, kids wouldn’t run away from home, relationships wouldn’t split, and boys wouldn’t have cooties. But, in a broken world, we see those things on a regular basis. It’s all over the news, when heartbreak goes wrong and people get hurt– emotionally, or even physically.

We don’t mean to put limits on our love, but there is always this innate sense that we can only take so much before we just… can’t.

God doesn’t work like that. His love, it’s unconditional. It means that no matter what you do, God loves you. He may not like or support your behavior, and He will still recognize your sins, but God gave the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus dying on the cross, because God loves us so unconditionally, so completely, so wholly, that he wanted to make sure that even WE couldn’t keep ourselves apart from God unless we willingly chose to.

God gave us this blanket that covers our sins, that says we can overcome that– he rescues us from our own flaws, our own acts of defiance, and gives us this love that is without fail and is unending. And he doesn’t want us to choose to be separate from him. He wants us to choose to be with him, to choose a life spent serving him, worshiping him, and loving him.

God’s love is unfailing. It is. As humans, we have failing love all the time. While our love may be unconditional to some degree, we have our moments. As a mom, I have those “failed love” moments. I have those times where, on the 5th time of the day that I’ve asked Zach “PLEASE get off of the piano and settle down!” that I get snippy with him and just exclaim “Darn it, Zach, if you won’t listen, you’re going to be in trouble.” I reach my frustration point, my “limit” so to speak, and, while I still love Zach, my frustration fails him in that respect. God is so much different than that… even when you or I have stood on the piano 10 times that day, have stood there and dared God to just say “UGH! I’m leaving the room and counting to ten if you can’t behave!” …he just keeps on holding us.

There’s this old saying that says “If you’re feeling distant from God, stop and think… who moved?” I’ll give you a hint… God didn’t. He’s everywhere. If you’re distant from him, YOU moved.

And that’s where God’s love is unfailing. I think that’s why Psalms 13:5 speaks to me so much. It says “But I will trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me.”

…think about that for a second. “I will trust in your unfailing love,” it says, “I will rejoice. Because you have rescued me.”

Wow.

I mean, can you say much more here than just… wow?

God loves us so completely, so wholly, that his love is unfailing. It doesn’t fail. I know I may sound redundant here, but, to some degree, to unpack this verse, you have to be. God doesn’t fail. He doesn’t. Instead, he takes you, screaming toddler you, standing on the piano, shaking your fists, screaming at the top of your lungs, and he says “Come here. Give me a hug. I’m going to rescue you.”

When Zach, my son, crawls up on the piano, he climbs all the way up, unblinking, and then gets to the top and thinks “Whoa. This is really high. I’m kind of freaking out here.” I think we’re the same way. While our piano is metaphorical (or, hey, y’know, maybe you’re literally climbing onto a piano. I respect that– your choice there, dude), we put ourselves in these situations, these really scary places.

And then we think… “Oh. Crud. How do I get down from here?”

And God… God rescues me. He rescues you.

Listen to this song from Hillsong United. I think it really speaks to this verse, to Psalms 13:5, how God has this unfailing love, and he rescues us.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy9nwe9_xzw]

At one point, the writer of the song says “Your grace abounds in deepest waters. Your sovereign hand will be my guide. Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me, you’ve never failed, and you won’t start now.”

God NEVER fails. And if we call upon his name, if we keep our eyes above the waves, we’re going to be able to find that rest in him, that love, unconditional.

 

We just have to accept it.

Sometimes when a verse is really speaking to me, I unpack it best by getting my creative side on and designing something to highlight that verse. I really wanted to share this design with you, so if it’s speaking to you, you can have that reminder of it. I’m sharing it here via dropbox in several sizes– 8×10, 4×6, 6×4, and 4×4 (for easy sharing on Instagram). Feel free to print, frame, and share this verse printable with your friends; if you plan to share the digital copy, please direct them to my blog so they can download it themselves rather than just sharing the file. Of course, if you’re printing it, feel free to print an extra copy for a loved one.

You can download this printable here.

7 Ways to Pray for Your Child

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It didn’t take me long at all, minutes even, to realize I was never going to be a perfect parent. In fact, I honestly realized that while I was pregnant. No matter how hard I might try, I’d never be a perfect parent.

When I brought up my worry, as a perfectionist, that I’d never be a perfect parent, I was greeted with wisdom by people who had been there. My mom, my grandma, my friends… they all came back with the same resounding concept. I was right– I’d never be a perfect parent. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t be a praying parent.

By spending time in prayer for my child, I could actually become a better parent for him than if I was a perfect parent.

But sometimes, it can be hard to think of how to pray for your child. I mean, you have all of these hopes and dreams and thoughts for your child, as a mom, before your son or daughter is even born. Sometimes, you even have this in your mind before they’re conceived.

I struggled to put my prayers into words, and I honestly sometimes didn’t even use words– I believe God understands my petitions even when my words can’t put the thoughts I have into coherent prayers.

One of the first prayers I had for my son was a prayer of Salvation. I knew that I wanted my son to grow up and have a relationship with God, so I wanted to make sure that he knew God personally, and had dedicated his life to Christ. I wanted to pray that he would find Salvation.

I prayed for my son to have great joy. I wanted to know that he was not just happy, but joyful. I prayed also that God would make ME a more joyful person and help instill that joy in his life, both by the way I lived, and through the examples set for him by myself and those in his life. I wanted him to experience happiness, of course, but I also thought that joy, true Holy Spirit joy, transcended that, and I prayed that upon him.

I prayed that my son would have a Servant heart, that he would learn to serve others and be willing to get down and wash someone’s feet, or any other service that he could provide. I wanted him to reach out and help people, and find a passion in that. Essentially, I prayed that my son would get a lot of traits from my mother, who has the biggest servant hearts of anyone I know. I wanted my son to know that serving others is one of the most important things you can do.

I prayed for my son’s safety. Of course, his safety was paramount to me. With all of the crazy news about mall shootings and terrorism and even just basic things like drunk drivers or plane crashes, I worried a lot about Zach’s safety. I realized, though, that God says not to worry, but instead, to pray. There’s no need to have anxiety about things when we have prayer (easier said than done for me and my panic attacks, but I knew prayer was the right solution). So I did, I prayed for my son’s safety, for him to be guarded from harm. I prayed he would be protected and kept from harm.

I prayed for my son’s wisdom, that he would not just be a smart child with a thirst for learning, but that he would be wise. I prayed that he would have the wisdom to think for himself, to discern right from wrong, and make wise, Godly choices. I didn’t pray necessarily for my son’s intelligence, but for wisdom. I knew that being book smart could help him in life, but being wise, having that true wisdom, would help him for sure.

When my son started to grow, I saw that he was one self-confident kid with a little attitude.
I prayed for humility, that, even in his self-confidence, he would be humble and speak with kindness. I didn’t want him to become cocky, or lose that humility when speaking to authority figures or even peers. I wanted his heart to be pure and humble, with his servant heart and gentle spirit.

I prayed for strength. No, not the “I can lift two elephants” kind of strength, but the kind of strength that comes from the heart. I wanted him to be strong in tough times, to know that, even though times can be tough, or you can cry or be upset over circumstances, that you persevere, you continue on, and your strength helps carry you. I also prayed for a strength of spirit, one that would allow him to resist temptation that I know will face him in life. I prayed for the strength to say no to things he knew were not right, and for the strength to stand for what is right, even when it’s hard. I prayed for strength to get through hard circumstances, and strength to resist temptation, both from his peers and directly from evil he may encounter in life.

Of course, there are many, many ways you can pray for your child. These seven are just a start, a jumping off point to consider ways to pray.

Whether your child is a grown adult, or still not even a blip on the radar, or maybe somewhere in between, praying for your child is important. You’ll never be perfect… I’ll go ahead and be the bad guy and break that news to you now. But you CAN be a praying parent, and that’s what really matters.

 

What prayers do you have for your children? Leave them in the comments below!

An Identity to Be Proud Of

- Mama 1 Comment

Slut. After all, I’m an unwed mother. People see the child, but they don’t see what happened around that time, and it’s clear, sometimes people look at me differently because I had a child out of wedlock. I can see where people would think that…

Imprisoned. I’m trapped in my sins, aren’t I? It seems like every time I break the cycle of a sin– anger, impurity, anything– I just get trapped in the same cycle again. Is it something I can break? I don’t know. I think I’m just trapped.

Stupid. What’s wrong with me? Why am I so dumb sometimes, I can’t see something right in front of me? Am I that naive, that dumb?

I label myself. A lot. And it’s usually not pretty. I’ve formed these identities. It’s the things I hear in my head when I’m falling asleep, the words that repeat themselves when I think “Why don’t I have a spouse?” “Ugh, you don’t think my job is legitimate? Are you kidding me? I work my butt off!” “I totally lost it again and yelled… seriously, though, am I just destined to be trapped in this cycle of anger and frustration forever?”

What I didn’t realize, however, is that in doing so, I’m doing something even more dangerous than just hurting my self esteem.

I’m playing God.

I may never have said it, or intended it… but when I’m accepting a name for myself or a word for myself that is less than the word or identity that God has for me, I’m taking over for Him. I’m saying, “God, you don’t know me. You don’t have an identity that suits me. I’ve got one better.” I’m saying, basically,

God, I know more than you know. I’m smarter than you are.

That’s a serious problem! Saying that I am unworthy, stupid, expendable, alone, hopeless, a loser, unlovable, powerless,defeated, that’s not what God has in mind for me!

And the worst part is, it doesn’t just affect how I feel about me. It isn’t just about my own personal self-image.

It affects every relationship I have… my friendships, my family, my job. When I’m struggling in my relationships, it all boils down to the fact that I am struggling with God. Anytime I’m saying that I am less than God’s plan for me, I’m struggling with him… and it’s messing up how I interact with other people.

I’m not the only one who does this, though. You do this, most likely. I’m willing to bet at one point or another, at some time in each of your lives, my readers, the people I go to church with, my family, my friends, and pretty much everyone I know, has had an identity that they’ve accepted, a hat they’ve put on, a name they’ve called themselves, that is less than what God has for them.

You know who else wrestled with God?

Jacob. Genesis 32:24 says “This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until dawn began to break.” Hosea 12:3 makes it clear that this man he struggled with was God when it says “Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God.” 

Jacob fought with God. They wrestled. And God took Jacob’s old Identity– Liar. Manipulator. Deceiver. Thief.– and he gave him a brand new one, a brand new name, Israel, meaning “Prince.” He took someone who identified as a thief, a manipulator, just a bad dude, and made him into the Child of a King.

God is willing to do that to us, too. We can wrestle with him, struggle with our identity, try to replace His view with our own, but in the end, God has a plan and a name for us. I’m a Princess. You’re a Prince or Princess. We are HIS children.

But it isn’t always that easy. It’s not always as easy as accepting what God has for us.

God often presents change through hardship. Sometimes, he leaves a permanent reminder of our struggle with our identity in Him. For example, Jacob’s story in Genesis 32:25 continues with God wrenching his hip out of socket! After that, Jacob walked with a limp! Like, long-term!

Sometimes, we have that reminder. That hardship. But you know what I think? I think it’s worth it.

God has something new in mind for me. I’m determined to pursue the new, to receive the blessing God and God alone has for me.

I took this image at the beach this summer, and it represents God’s creation to me. It really does– this photo helps me fully grasp the beauty of God’s creation, and it helps me see that I can be a beautiful creation in Him, too. So, I added this verse about God doing SOMETHING NEW in me to remind me of the newness of the creation that I am.

I was reading Zach the story of Adam from his Children’s Bible as part of our school lessons. It talked about how we are made In God’s Image, and when we’re made in his Image, it means we’re as close to the original as possible– that God made us to be like Him in a lot of ways.

If I look at God as being amazing beyond imagination… why don’t I see myself as something good, too? If God created me good, why don’t I believe that?

Matthew West says it really well in this song… check it out.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuJWQzjfU3o]

I just really believe that God is doing something new in my life. I believe he is doing something new in your life, too.

Tell me in the comments below, what are the false names that you call yourself that are less than what God has for you? What do you think of the idea that God is doing something new in your life? Are you willing to go through hardship to become a new creation in God? (Or don’t tell me in the comments– this is pretty personal. Feel free to share below, or think about it, or write it down at home, or something! I just encourage you to interact with these verses somehow).

Parts of this post were heavily inspired by a sermon given by Pastor John Marra at Living Hope Church. You can learn more about Living Hope Church at www.livinghopekc.org. If you’re in the Kansas City area, I’d love for you to join us for Sunday Services at 10:30am.