Tag: grace

Weary Me. Loving Him.

Weary Me. Loving Him.

by Nikki Rich Writes ♥ 2 Comments

Weary Me

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians‬ ‭6:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Many of us know this verse well. It’s all about honoring God, doing our best, and trusting Him to see us through. We know it. We hear it. We believe it. What happens, however, when that verse doesn’t quite feel like enough? When it’s been just one too many days? When your last nerve has been stepped on just one too many times? When you’re unable to hold back the tears any longer? When accepting defeat almost feels relieving? Anything but this place. Anything but this state of being. What do you do when weariness seems inevitable?

I’ve dealt with this many of times: trying to push pass negative feelings but failing, wondering if complacency is really that bad, even entertaining lies that tell me God’s promises aren’t really for me. I allow myself to lose hope and confidence. I question myself and my circumstance. I wonder, for a moment, if God really knows what He’s doing. Why on earth would God tell us not to give up when He knew how hard it’d be not to?

Loving Him

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew‬ ‭11:28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The more I learn about Christ, usually though the various trials and storms I face, the more I realize how chill He is. The juxtaposition of my frantic and exhausted spirit with His calming and all-knowing spirit is striking. I fight and push and try and fail all while He rests, looks on, and waits for me to turn to Him. As I scold myself, wishing I could hold on better, keep my attitude more in check, or even choose gratitude more often than tantrums, He sits there patiently until I wear myself out. When I get just weary enough to turn my attention back on Him, it’s there that I’m taught, once again, about His long-lasting love.

His love.

It’s His love that calls me righteous, even when I feel like I don’t deserve it (Philippians 3.9). It’s His love that prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies (Psalm 23:5). It’s His love that keeps a hedge of protection around me (Psalm 91). It’s His love that encourages me (Deuteronomy 31:8). It’s His love that convicts me, molding me into the person He saw while I was still in my mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13; 15-16). It’s His love that provides an abundance of mercy and goodness to follow me all the days of my life (Psalm 23:6). It’s His love that empathizes and understands me when no one else does (Hebrews 4:15-16). It’s His love that never fails to provide comfort (Psalm 119:76). He brings His promises to mind, challenging me to remember that last time He rescued me, favored me, and covered me (Hebrews 8:10). If He did it before, isn’t He faithful enough to do it again?

This post is a plea, for all of us, to breathe. To remember that we aren’t doing this life alone. We have a Heavenly Father more than willing to help us, guide us, direct us, and mature us. Will we let Him? Will we learn the patience, the discipline, and the humility necessary to become our best selves? Will we accept the promises of God even when they don’t seem yet applicable to our lives? Will we choose to believe God loves us, even in the depths of our sins and mistakes?

My prayer is that each and every one of you know that you’re okay. Know that no amount of weariness can separate you from the love and promises of God (Romans 8:38). Know that no matter how hard the trial may be, it serves to produce the endurance and patience needed for your elevation (James 1:2-4). Know that no matter how far it may seem, God’s promises are still yes and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20). Know that though you stumble, doubt, and sometimes even fall, the righteous (which you are in Him) do indeed get back up (Proverbs 24:16).

Take your eyes off of yourself and place them on Him, twenty somethings ❤️

CHALLENGE: Take a verse from this post or in your own study and meditate on it for a week. Aim to memorize it, if you can. What does it say about Him? What does it say about you? Write it down and revisit it often. You can’t trust God, like He wants you to, until You learn who He is and how He feels about you. See who He is and test Him on it.

Grace to Grow

Grace to Grow

by Nikki Rich Writes ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

As we enter into 2019, full of hopes, aspirations, and plans, remember that our success has less to do with our personal effort and more to do with our alignment with God’s will. We often joke about those failed New Year’s resolutions to go to the gym or finally pursue a business venture, but at some point, we must tighten up and reach the goals ahead of us. Goals that push us closer to God and into the fullness of our purpose should be of utmost importance. From personal experience as well as hearing the testimonies of others, the main obstacles to taking those steps forward tend to be pride in our abilities or the magnification of our sin, causing those debilitating feelings of unworthiness. In both of these cases, God has a way of making the wrong right, if we’re willing to let Him lead. There’s probably no better example of this than Saul, later renamed Paul, a murderer turned apostle, and the writer of some of your favorite scriptures in the Bible.

Saul, for those who may not know, was a persecutor of those who believed in Jesus as our Savior. Saul led the orders to kill men and women who called on the name of Jesus and taught others about the healing powers of the Lord. On his way to Damascus, with the mission of arresting even more believers, Jesus stopped him in his tracks and confronted Saul about why he continued to persecute His Church (the believers). Telling Saul to continue onto Damascus, Saul got up only to find that he was blind. It was in Damascus that Jesus would perform the miracle that would forever turn Saul, the murderer and persecutor, into Paul, the apostle, the teacher, and the writer of the majority of the Bible. Jesus used Ananias, a disciple, to be the hands of this miracle.

““Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.””- Acts‬ ‭9:13-14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

When Jesus came to Ananias in a vision to tell him to meet Saul in Damascus and remove the blindness from his eyes, Ananias responded like most of us would. We often cannot see what God does and as a result, we focus on the faults in front of us, rather than the potential for growth that God graces us for. While Ananias knew Saul’s history of violence and hate for the followers of Christ, he humbled himself and took the step to be obedient and meet Saul for the miracle that would take place.

“But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.” – Acts‬ ‭9:15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

As beautiful as it is to see Ananias display not only obedience but also faith in the Word of God, it still doesn’t touch the beauty that was the Lord’s perspective of Saul. Despite his history, the same background that initially concerned Ananias to the point of questioning God’s command, Jesus saw Saul as a mighty man who would be perfect to preach to the Gentiles and show them the saving grace of God. This moment highlights the way God sees us. Even in our faults, our sins, and our hurts, we can still be used for God’s glory. It isn’t that we are perfect or need to be before God comes to us, but rather it’s about us recognizing that God has given us grace to grow up and get back in line. Will we accept the grace and make the change?

“Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.” – Acts‬ ‭9:19-22‬ ‭NIV

As Saul demonstrates, once he humbled himself and let God lead his life, God was able to not only change Saul’s life around for the better but completely use his abilities, that were once for evil, to now be an example and proof for others that Jesus is Lord. Similarly, the same talent, ability, and personality that you possess can still be used to make you great for the Lord as well as be an example for those whose lives are attached to you. It is in your testimony, in your walk, and in your character that others will come to believe in the power and love of God (Matthew 5:16).

Moving forward, I pray that you all don’t count yourself out and settle for less than God’s best for you. When things get hard or you feel like you’re unworthy, remember that God can and will use anyone who is willing. I urge you to stay available and allow God’s grace to do its work in you. As you continue to grow and seek out His path for your life, remember to also reach out your hand and extended your grace to others, in obedience to God. It doesn’t matter if others seem unworthy or “bad”, continue to be a light and encourage others so that God can do His perfect work in them too. We all need to be our best this 2019!

floweroncross

Let’s reach a new level together, twenty somethings ❤️

Great Is Your Mercy, Great Is Your Grace

Great Is Your Mercy, Great Is Your Grace

by Nikki Rich Writes ♥ 1 Comment

I recently received the biggest and most important revelation of my life thus far: God loves me. I know that this revelation, at first read, may seem dull, but please hear me out. While it IS basic, it’s also something many of us don’t fully take in and accept. It’s the foundation that everyone of us should stand on. I realized that before now, I wasn’t standing on it at all. I was, at best, using it as a churchy thing to say. It wasn’t that I didn’t know God loved me, it was that I didn’t believe it. It’s only in this past week that God really brought it to the forefront and made me examine myself and Him. It is only now that I’m seeing that revelation as something more than just knowledge, but as power.

Let’s take it back to our favorite twenty-something topic: adulting. In the fullness of our adulting experiences, we are all extremely stretched. We have classes to pass and we have bills to pay. We have bosses to impress and we have children to keep alive. Simply, adulting is stressful. It seems to be full of work with minimal play. We are constantly performing and constantly working towards perfection. As adults, we are marked, many times, by our ability to excel, to get it all right. If we possibly fall short, in any area, we risk eviction, getting fired, even losing the beauty of our Instagram highlight reel (that’s another topic for another day lol). The point I’m trying to make is that we are conditioned to perform. Very rarely are we graced to stumble, let alone fall. For me, that mentality was applied not only to adulting but to God. I was a class act performer. I went to church. I read my scriptures. I encouraged others. I prayed to be used by Him. While all these things were done with sincerity and good intention, I wasn’t doing it out of pure love. My desire was to get the gold star. I wanted to win the Oscar, I wanted His approval.

This realization was the latest lesson of my pruning process. I pretty much got slapped in the face when God let me know that I was doing everything under the sun except seeing Him. He told me, simply, that He wasn’t like the people on this earth. I didn’t have to impress Him. I didn’t have to perform. He already knew me. He already loved me unconditionally. Even at my worst, He wanted me.
As a performer, this sounded good but was quite the challenge to accept ( it’s still a challenge at times, honestly). It sounds awesome for God to love me just as I am, to purpose me for greater, and to have nothing separate me from His love. I couldn’t understand how exactly that worked in real life though. I wanted to perform, badly. I had many questions such as: “How can I show you that I love you? What fast do I need to do? What scriptures do I need to read to prove that I’m serious about You?” My questions were met with silence, unsurprisingly. To be honest, even now it strikes a nerve. I don’t like not knowing. I don’t like not having an action plan.

Funny enough, He wants me (and all of us) to get to that point. He wants me not knowing what to do or how to act, in my own strength. Being in that state leaves us dependent, seeking Him out for everything. Experience has shown me, time and time again, that when I depend on my performance, my will, and my logic, I fall short every time. While that may work beautifully in the “real world”, God has no time for my games. As well intentioned as my performance was, it wasn’t His way. I needed to surrender to Him. I needed to listen and to obey, pushing my own feelings aside. I couldn’t play church or just say the right kind of prayer hoping all would be okay. I had to drop it all, get real, and let Him in everywhere and in everything.

I’m not writing this as someone who has now figured it out. I am writing as someone still perched in the process. I’m still confused at times and still fighting my flesh all the time. I have not been given all the answers during this process. In fact, this is a step by step, day by day sort of situation. But step by step, God is revealing. He is assuring me that He loves me, right here. He is sending me scriptures that show me how he views me, how he uses people like me. He is putting revelation in my heart about His purpose for me. He is letting me know that with Him, I’m unstoppable. Having to now walk this out, I find myself completely shook. I’m constantly wondering why He loves me so much, to the point that He’s willing to take it back to this basic but fundamental promise. The answer, I’m getting time and time again is because, simply, I’m His child and we have destiny to do. The same is true for you.

I just encourage you to relax. We have so many demands and opportunities to perform both in the natural and the spiritual. I pray that you wait to see what God says and where He tells you to go. Our own will is fruitless, but His will leads to abundance, opportunity, healing, and freedom. Sit in the revelation that He loves you. Not only does He love you, but He wants the best for you. Because you’re His child, He will hold you up, keep you from falling, and remind you of all His promises for your life. Grace and mercy follow us because He loves us.

Surrender your thoughts, your plans, and your desire to perform. Let Him complete His perfect work in you. You will not fail. You will not fall. His power will be all over you. For when you are weak, then you are strong! (2 Corinthians 12:10)

He loves you, twentysomethings!

“For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Check out this skit to drive the message home: