Living by the Gospel

A couple weeks ago during spiritual renewal week, the speaker reminded me of the importance of living by the gospel.  No, not in the sense of “oh, let’s all just love each other!” or “I’m seriously going to just read my Bible every day!”  Yes, those things are important and good, but I was convicted to truly live by the gospel.  I wanted to live in the truth that I am a sinner, God sent his son Jesus to die for me, he conquered death and rose from the dead, if I repent he will forgive me.

Now, some would view this message as only what brings one to a saving knowledge.  They must believe those things in order to become a Christian, and they can leave it at that—but that is the core of who we are as Christians, we can’t just let it go after that.  I want to daily be aware that I am sinner and that I need Christ.

All of this to say, I decided that the next book I should read for devotions would be the gospel of Mark.  Reading through the story of Jesus will be a great reminder of who I am, a sinful being, and an even greater reminder of who Christ is-- my Savior, my God, my everything.

The beginning of Mark talks about John the Baptist and his ministry for Christ.  Something that stuck out to me was the recurring theme of confessing sins and repenting of sins.  How many times had I read over those verses or similar verses and just ignored the often recurring “confess your sins” message?  But guess what?  Confessing your sins is one of the biggest core principles of the gospel.

This paralleled perfectly with what God taught me yesterday.  He taught me that I am a prideful girl, seeking to constantly better my image, and that I need his help to be free from this sin.  Today, through this passage, he reminded me that I need to confess my sins!  This in itself is a step of humility, and it is what God calls us to do daily.  So why don’t I do it?  I find that I’m so focused on myself and what I’m doing, that I don’t take the time to recognize my sin, confess it, and change from it.  Not only is this a huge reminder of my pride issue, but it is a reminder of how much it is getting in the way of my walk with God.  My pride has become such a problem, that I don’t find the need to confess my sins and ask for his help to change.  If this is my mindset, I will never get anywhere!

So, my mindset has changed.  I am now praying for not only an awareness of my sins, but a conviction for them.  I am praying that I will not be blinded by my pride; rather, my eyes will be opened in humility.

My first step in daily living by the gospel is confessing my sins.  My first step is a daily prayer for conviction and the help to get rid of my pride.

God, change my heart.

Rid me of my pride.

Fill me with the gospel.

Laying Down My Pride

"So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. " Philippians 2:1-7

He made himself nothing.  The God of the universe came to earth and made himself nothing- taking the very nature of a servant.

As I said in my last post, I have been twice as involved at Taylor this year in comparison to last year.  Taking on more responsibility, has been something I've really wanted to do this year.  I love being able to get involved and enjoy experiences and time with people.  But I must admit, I have also loved the image of being thoroughly involved.  For some reason, I feel like I need to impress others by all of the things I am involved in.  For some reason, I feel like taking on more responsibility makes me somehow "above" other people.

This is only one of the ways that I find myself thinking that I am "above" others.  I've save you the details of my pride issues, as they will honestly be very embarrassing to me.

Over this wing retreat, God opened my eyes once again to this huge problem of pride that I have.  He showed me that my assumptions about people are completely wrong.  He showed me that my attitude in my leadership positions is completely wrong.  My opportunities to serve aren't being used to serve others, rather, I'm using those things to serve myself.  How disgusting is that.

Through Christ, I am laying down my pride.
I am taking up humility and a servant's heart,
and I am following the example of Jesus Christ.

Open my eyes.
Convict me.
Change me.
Use me.

God is good.

Here am I, all of me

Wow, it's been a while since I blogged...I'm so sorry, blah, blah, blah.  You get the picture...everyone gets busy.

Speaking of busy, I've been really busy.  And you know what that means? stress. I must say, I am one known not to handle stress very well.  The things I'm stressed about constantly weigh on me, and even cause my muscles to tense up.  These are only a few reasons why stress is as huge problem.

This year is a much different year than last.  Many things have changed, and that makes it very easy for me to be stressed.  I let academics stress me out, time stress me out, people stress me out, commitments stress me out--honestly, you name it and it stresses me out.  These things are many times overbearing, overwhelming, challenging, and inconsistent.  Stress causes me to be easily frustrated and focused on myself.  It's just bad.

Today, God has been teaching me.  He has been showing me that He is my consistency and peace.  He is always forgiving, always loving, always teaching, always comforting, always uplifting.  always.  No matter what I do, no matter what changes, He is always there. 

With this knowledge as my foundation, nothing can get to me.  God will strengthen me and uphold me. He gives me a constant joy and peace, in His word and in getting to know Him more.  Seriously, He is so good.  And although I know I'll never be perfect, and I know that I will mess up along my walk with Him--He's there.

So freely, I give myself to Him- my attitude, my stress, my confusion, my worries, my frustrations.  He can take them all.  I am here to serve, love, and grow closer to Him.  I can make that my focus no matter what is going on around me.

Here am I, all of me.

Take my life, its all for Thee.