As an Offering to You - life & meditations of a bondservant

Abide. to bear patiently to endure without yielding to remain stable or fixed in a state to continue in a place "Abide in Me, and I in you." John 15:4 Wow. If you think about what that means via those definitions and that Jesus is bearing patiently in us, enduring without yielding, remaining stable or fixed in, and continuing in us? That's just absolutely mind-blowing to me! A good challenge I thought of regarding this verse is to analyze how I'm doing at abiding in Christ.  If He's all in with me, what's keeping me from being all in with Him? Bear Patiently . Do I bear patiently in God? Or, do I get upset quickly, frustrated, and give up on Him?  He's waiting every second of every day to connect with me, draw close with me; He's so patient with me. Endure Without Yielding. Do I endure without yielding? When things get tough, confusing, or hard, do I give in to the fire, or do I push through with God and come ou

Hello, Beloved. It's definitely been a while since I last posted on here, and I wanted to share my most recent reflection I had the other day. I was sitting, meditating, in God's creation. Breathing in fresh mountain breezes with hints of fall. Soft rays of sunshine showering my skin. Reveling at the work of God's hands.  And I thought:  Jesus came so we could have live and live it to the fullest (John 10:10). Do I truly believe that?  Do we truly believe that? And if we do  believe that, what exactly does that look like? It definitely looks different for each person. But, take some time to really dig down deep. Dream big. God loves giving His children good gifts (Matthew 7:11) and  gifts that are even beyond our wildest dreams and imagination (Ephesians 3:20). Sometimes, I think the problem with truly believing this and living it out, is that we aren't bold  enough. We're scared. We're scared to dream big because

This quick meditation came to me while driving last night and was further confirmed in my devotional this morning. How do you see? Some people choose to see the world in a negative way, always seeing the negative, bad, or ugly ways of the world, of other people, of situations.  They never see that one star that is beautifully and boldly shining in the night sky, while the rest of the stars are hidden by the clouds. That one star just trying to say, look. There is light and there is hope. Instead of seeing the good that is present in the world, in other people, and situations, they focus on the bad. They see the night sky filled with clouds. And oftentimes, they don’t stop and see how beautiful this world, people, and situations truly are until it’s too late. And this beautiful life here on earth is fast and fleeting. So, my question again for you is:  How do you see? Or, how will you choose to see from now on? How will you live out the time t

Today wraps up my time in and study of Genesis. I’ve been reading, studying, and meditating on a chapter a day since February, and let me just say, this is one of the best studies I’ve had in a long time. It started off as an idea to just read about Abraham [and Sarah], as in December, Abraham [and Sarah] kept coming up in other devotions or conversation with people. So, I was like, “okay, God, I get it. I’ll check into what You’re trying to tell me.” But, several weeks passed by, and it was laid on my heart to not just read about Abraham [and Sarah], but just read Genesis in general. So, I did. As I began my journey “in the beginning,” I didn’t really expect much except for just brushing up on these old stories I read as a young girl, waiting to get to where God wanted to tell me something with Abraham [and Sarah]. But, boy, does God have a way of always surprising you and knocking your socks off! I literally got something out of every chapter I read in Genesi

I was planning on doing a quick reflection from my Bible reading today, but after just reading a devotional, I definitely knew I had to write. God is definitely telling [reminding] me today that He is with me – and that He is with you! The first mention of God always being with us was during the sermon today at church. We were studying Gideon in the book of Judges and how the Lord was with him. Our God is a personal God – He comes to us on a one-to-one ratio, and what a blessing that is! Praise Him that the veil is torn, that we can come directly to Him, and how He desires a relationship with us! Whatever battle you are facing, or will face in the future, the Lord is with you. The second time this phrase popped up was during my time in the Word this afternoon. I’m reading through Genesis and was in Chapter 39 today. So many things struck me about this chapter today. First of all, the roller coaster of life is a very real thing! Joseph goes from being with his fam