Week Five: Saved by Grace

“The church is not a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners.” - Morton Kelsey


Hello! This week’s devotional is kind of a response to what we did last night at chapter retreat. For those of you that weren’t there for the end, what happened was Becca asked us all a series of questions and, to respond, we went and stood under the sign on the wall that best answered it. For example she asked things like “In what area are you most proud of” and “In what area do you feel least confident in” and for each of these we could stand under spirituality, physical, emotional, social, intellectual, or occupational. Then after all the questions were asked, we all sat down and got a chance to tell everyone why we answered in the ways we did.

I was moved and encouraged by all of your stories and reactions. I know this is so cheesy, but seeing how no one was ever by themselves under a sign showed that being a Kappa Delta really does mean that you will never have to struggle with something alone because you will always be surrounded by people who can relate to what you’re going through.

The one thing that really caught my attention though was that most people chose “spiritual” for the answer to “This is an area I want to improve in. I feel like I’m not doing my best and have room for improvement.” First of all, I think it’s great that a lot of us want to strengthen our faith and, as we heard last night, there are lots of girls here to support us in that choice. I think it’s so important to make changes to improve our relationship with God, but we need to make sure we‘re changing in response to His love for us.

1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.”

So many times we try to live so that God will love us, rather than living because He already loves us. We get caught up in the idea that we have to do things in order to be loved by Him. This is such a bad trap to fall in to because if we equate God’s love with going to church every Sunday or never drinking, then what does that mean if we miss one Sunday morning? Or, heaven forbid, if we miss a Sunday because we’re super hung-over from the night before? I got the feeling last night that some of you were discouraged, like you felt you had such a long way to go in your walk with Christ so why even bother starting. Please don’t feel like that! The gospel of grace is filled with stories of how you don’t have to clean yourself up at all before you come to Jesus. I mean look at Mary Magdalene, the prostitute, and Paul, who used to actually kill Christians; They are perfect examples of how Christ wants you to come to Him first so He can help you change, rather than you trying to change first on your own.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Your acceptance by Christ isn’t determined by what you do or don’t do, it’s simply a wonderful gift. Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us that “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.” I’m not trying to undermine the importance of changing your lifestyle once you accept Christ. Changes in how we think, act and react, budget our time, spend our money, treat other people, etc should be happening daily in our lives once we’re saved. We will never finish growing and learning to become more Christ-like so obviously constant change is pretty much a given when you become a Christian. I’m just trying to highlight how we should change our lives because He loves us now, not because we’re hoping He will in the future. I think Brennan Manning explains this a little better in his book The Ragamuffin Gospel when he says “The saved sinner knows repentance is not what we do in order to earn forgiveness; it is what we do because we have been forgiven. It serves as an expression of gratitude rather than an effort to earn forgiveness.”

Last night really was inspiring to me and made me realize what great sisters I have to lean on if I need to! I hope y’all have a great week and enjoy your Valentine’s day tomorrow (I know I‘ll be spending my night at the theater with my main man J.Biebs) <3

Currently Listening To: The Remedy by David Crowder Band

Week Four: Jesus Loves You : )

“And having chosen them, he called them to come to him.  And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself.  And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.  What shall we say about such wonderful things as these?  If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” Romans 8:30-31

So the other day I was praying, and I just got this overwhelming realization of God’s love for us.  I don’t really know how to explain it, but there was almost like an urgency in His message to me.  Like all of a sudden something clicked about the grandness of His love and I just got this rush of emotion and adrenaline like I had to go tell everyone about it!  Which is why, if this devotional seems to jump all over the place, it’s probably because I was just typing during this huge adrenaline rush.  I tried to go back and make sense of it later though so hopefully that helped organize it a little : )

Anyway, let me start from the beginning.  When this all happened, I was praying for a friend of mine who struggles with something that I think a lot of us struggle with to some degree.  She is a smart, friendly, caring, and funny girl, but the only problem is that I don’t think she sees any of that in herself.  See, she is obsessed with working out, being skinny, having the latest designer brands, ect.  Now I’m not at all saying that being fashionable is bad, but it does become bad when you start to think that your fashion and looks are the only things that define you.  For my friend, I think she only feels confident and secure when people compliment her clothing and looks.  It’s sad to watch this happen though because on days where she doesn’t like her clothes or her looks, her self-esteem and confidence goes straight out the window.  It’s like no matter how great of a person she is without all the frill and fashion, she still views herself as someone who isn’t good enough for anything.

And this is about where this revelation of how much God really loves each of us happened.  I know that the statement may be kind of obvious, but see I think we hear that ‘God loves us’ so often that many times we don’t stop to think about what that means for us.  What power, authority, and confidence we have when we start to live as women who are fully loved and accepted by God!   

God loves you.  He accepts you. He made you in HIS image.  He chose you. He is jealous for you. He fights for you. He died for you.  He lives for you! Once you even start to comprehend His love for you, everyone else’s opinion of you starts to not matter at all.  The revelation of his unrelenting love for YOU specifically should completely turn your world upside down!  It is such a comfort to be wrapped in His arms of grace, forgiveness, and acceptance.  Where else can you feel that way?  Enjoy soaking in the presence of God.  You know how relaxing and soothing it is to bundle up in all your covers or slide in to a hot bubble bath?  That’s how I feel when I hear of, experience, or think about the love of God.  And the crazy thing is that His love surrounds us constantly, but it’s always just me who misses it.  Maybe I over look it because I’m too busy getting caught up in my own problems and stress.  Maybe I’m too preoccupied waiting for huge miracles to notice His simple acts of love along the way.  But each time I finally open my eyes and realize that I’m missing out, I run right back to him and you know what happens?  He keeps loving me!! This might sound like nothing to y’all but that kind of everlasting love completely blows my mind.  I mean think about it… If you bought your boyfriend two tickets to the super bowl for your 5 year anniversary and, not only did he take someone else, but he didn’t even thank you for them, would you be inclined to give him another huge gift the next day? Um, I don’t think so. But God continues to seek after and woo us even if we don’t respond the first time.

I am so thankful that our God shows His love for us DAILY, regardless of whether we deserve it or not. Isn’t that refreshing to think about?  You don’t ever ‘earn’ God’s love by dressing a certain way, saying the right thing, or looking perfect.  You can’t even earn it by reading the Bible more or never missing a Sunday church service. God’s love is a never ending blessing, so embrace it and let it fuel your life!

It’s so easy to get caught up in the material things of this world that seem to determine everyone’s status and worth.  But this week I pray that you all will focus on what you are worth to Jesus (And, for some amazing reason, we are worth tons to Him). I really pray that you start to see how much He loves you whether it’s through an answered prayer, getting to watch a gorgeous sunrise, or a simple feeling in your heart. Let God’s love overwhelm you this week!  Act on the newfound confidence of knowing that you are fully loved and accepted by the only One who matters!

“Overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.  And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.  Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.  No power in the sky above of in the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8: 37-39

“So that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, with all God’s holy people you will have the strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; so that, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond knowledge, you may be filled with the utter fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19

Currently Listening to: How He Loves Us by Jesus Culture (David Crowder Band is also a good version)

Week Three: Reading the Bible with Purpose

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

How many of you have had the experience where you’ve been reading page after page in your textbook and all of a sudden you realize… you have absolutely NO idea what you’ve just read.  None of it clicked! You’ve just been reading words the past hour but none of them actually registered in your brain.  Well, to be quite honest, that’s how I feel sometimes when I read the Bible.  It’s hard for me to focus on what I’m reading, find meaning in the words, and apply the lessons to my life.  There is a way to get past these barriers though, and that’s by praying while you read.  How do you do this? Well, it’s not nearly as overwhelming as it sounds.

Basically, you just take what you read and say it back to God.  For example, say you read Philippians 1:10 which says, “For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.”  So then you would say something like, “Lord, I want to understand what really matters to you, so that I may live a pure and blameless life until the day of your return.” It’s that simple! But by taking that extra step to put it in your own words, you’re forced to think about what you’re saying and reading. It doesn’t have to be in this exact format either, but I’m just trying to show you how to take a verse or a passage and change it so it applies directly to you.  Some verses might not even apply to you, but if you read with the intention of finding those that do, you’ll be able to stay a lot more focused too.

Sometimes verses or passages will lead you to ask for forgiveness, want to stop and praise him, to thank him, ask a question, promise to obey him, or anything else.  Whatever you want to tell him, do it right then and there!  Not combining prayer with reading your Bible is like if you could only communicate with your best friend through letters.  If she sent you a letter saying she had just gotten engaged, you would want to see her right then to give her a hug, see the ring, and talk about all the gushy details, right?  The story would lose some of its excitement and passion if you had to wait a week before talking.

 Well, that’s how my relationship with God used to be like; a loving, but long-distance relationship through letters.  I would tell him everything I wanted to say in prayer, and then at a later time I would read what He had to say in the Bible.  It was never immediate or back & forth like a real, in-person relationship is.  Therefore, my relationship with God never really grew any deeper until I started to communicate with Him while He was communicating with me through His word.

When you read your Bible, I want it to be a conversation between you and the Lord.  When you do this, God’s story begins to be woven into your life; becoming your story as well.  You’ll remember later how certain verses sustained you through difficult times; how you were strengthened and challenged by God as you read His Word. You will be amazed at how God can use a simple phrase or even just a word to speak into your life – if you’ll let him!

 “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4

“Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6-7

Currently Listening To: A Beautiful Collision by David Crowder Band

Week Two: Pray Before You Read

“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Psalm 145:18

Last week I stressed the importance of setting a specific time each day to spend with the Lord.  Well, if you’re anything like me, you’re thinking “how do I do that without getting bored and distracted within the first 10 minutes”?  What I’ve found is that you’ll come to enjoy reading the Bible if you’re actually understanding it, and one of the main ways to understand it is to pray before you start reading.  This may seem simple and obvious to some people, but I always considered prayer and Bible study separate.  It really wasn’t until last month that I realized how important it is to do both together.

James 1:5 says “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

So first of all, let’s just pause and realize how awesome this verse is.  This means that God didn’t just give us the Bible and be like “here ya go, good luck figuring this all out on your own!” No, he says that if we don’t understand something that we really want to, just ask and he’ll make things clear.  Not only does He promise to help us understand His word, but He promises to not even get angry or annoyed that we don’t get it.  This past break especially, I’ve been asking God for wisdom about certain things and I’m so thankful that each time I ask he isn’t thinking “seriously Sarah?  I’ve tried to explain this to you 20 times… why don’t you get it yet?”  Instead, God actually tells us to ask and He will give generously.

1 John 5:14-15 says “And we can be confident that He will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with His will.  And if we know He is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that He will give us what we ask for.”

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean He will give us everything we want.  If that were the case, I would for sure have a car by now, and probably a hot boyfriend too. This means that if what we want is also what He wants (“in line with His will”), then we will receive it.  Knowing and understanding His word is definitely something He wants for us, so we can be confident when we ask that He will be faithful and give it to us.

This week, begin your quiet time by simply asking God for wisdom and guidance, and for Him to soften your heart to receive His truths.  Just by adding prayer before studying the Bible, you’ll find that God will be faithful to hear your prayer and will start to give you a deeper understanding of His Word.

Currently Listening to: Dove’s Eyes by Misty Edwards

**A dove (also called a Love Bird) is able to only put attention on one thing at a time, so we ask God to give us dove’s eyes so that we may focus our whole heart and life on only Him.

Week One: Daily Devotional Plan for 2011

“I thirst for God, the living God.  When can I go and stand before Him?” Psalm 42:2

Hey y’all!  I hope everyone had a great, relaxing break and is ready to start fresh this year.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably already made new year’s resolutions for a number of things; getting in shape, making good grades, not wasting time on dumb boys, etc.  I love that the New Year gives us the chance to slow down think about what we want to focus our time on in the next year.  So often, we rush through life wanting to change, but are too busy to make plans.  Life ends up being a whirlwind of busyness without moving toward the better future that we all hope and dream of living.

So as I’ve prayed this break about what I should talk to y’all about first, I decided to expand on what my major resolution is: to be consistent in my daily one-on-one time with God.  This break I’ve really been learning how important it is to have a strategic plan to grow closer to God and become more Christ-like.  I know that sometimes Christians are hesitant to talk like this because it seems so ungodly to speak of God like an item on a to-do list.  Yet, by not adding God time as a must do item it ends up being a rarely do item.  God wants us to actively and passionately pursue Him, which means being strategic about our time together.  He wants us to desire to know him more and more… while becoming more like him each day.

After I wrote about this topic, I ended up having to split it up in to 3 weeks worth of stuff so it wouldn’t be one super long week.  I don’t mean for this to be a boring lesson on prayer and reading the Bible, I just want to give y’all a few tools that will help you have a full quiet time! So I’ll just start off with the first tip: Making time for God.  

Decide on the amount of time you will give God daily. Whether it is 10 min or 2 hours, honor the time commitment you make.  Treat it as an appointment with someone of great importance.  I know this sounds kind of silly because there is obviously no one of greater importance than God, but I think sometimes we take advantage of God’s grace and love by skipping the time we’ve set aside for him because we think “Oh it’s okay, God will always be there so I’ll just pray later.”  Think about this though, if you had an appointment to speak with the president of the United States would you even think to call him up and say “Oh hey man, sorry but I’m gonna have to reschedule, I forgot that Jersey Shore was on tonight and I really wanna watch it” or “I decided to sleep in an extra two hours so would you mind waiting around for a bit until I’m ready to talk”? No way! So I encourage y’all to take time at the beginning of each week and actually write down specific times you plan on spending with the Lord each day.

Be prepared though, there are going to be days when you reeaallllly don’t feel like waking up early or taking time away from something else to spend it with Him.  Or maybe you are doing your quiet time, but it doesn’t feel productive at all.  This is totally normal!  Don’t be discouraged.  Most often, the times we don’t feel like it are the times when we need God most – and feel refreshed or more at peace afterwards.  And if (or should I say when) you do skip a day, just simply start fresh the next day.  You don’t have to be perfect at it, just don’t give up.

The amazing part about spending time with God is that he slowly changes us to be more like Him in the process.  It’s not magic, it probably won’t happen overnight, but you’ll soon begin to notice a change in yourself.  This might be in how you react (or don’t react) to stressful situations, how you talk to people, your compassion for others, decreased anger or frustration, or just a general greater sense of peace and patience.

Finally, I just hope y’all know how excited I am for this next year to be able to lead and encourage y’all as your chaplain!  Please feel free to ask any questions about what I write each week.  If there’s anything you don’t understand or don’t agree with, let me know; I’d be more than happy to talk to you about it.  Have great week!

“But from there you will search again for the Lord your God.  And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.”  Deuteronomy 4: 29

 “I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.” Psalm 62:1-2

 Currently Listening to: Divine Romance by Phil Wickham (I just LOVE music so I decided to include a song each week that I’m currently obsessed with :) Enjoy!)