Undeserved

Today is the start of a very important part of the Church year. The beginning in fact. Ash Wednesday is the start of Lent. A time when we, as Christians remember and rest on the fact that we are sinners in need of a Savior. 

By ourselves we are enemies of God. Completely separated from Him. The sad reality is that that is what our sinful nature strives for. If you ever wonder why we can't just stop sinning, it's because that is who we are: sinners. However, God calls us to be perfect in His sight ( Matthew 5:48 ) , but how can we be if we are corrupted with sin? Does God even understand that? Even if we think we are 70% perfect and that that is a good amount, that is like saying we are good enough, we don't need a Savior. It's a constant circle; sinning again and again, becoming desensitized to it and lying to ourselves and thinking we are "good enough".

Despite our arrogance and disobedience to God, His love for us surpassed that and He chose to send His Son, giving Him the job of dying on a cross. Think of that; living to die for those around you. Does that appeal to you? Would you die for your enemy? Someone who lied to you, made fun of you. I know my answer would be no. I will straight up honest about that. Luckily Jesus did. Imagine that! Just rest on that love for a moment.....Isn't that the most amazing thing you have ever heard!? It's still hard for me to comprehend. So when we do sin, we repent. That shows our love for Christ and what He has done for us. Repentance is a fruit of our faith, the biggest evidence actually. 

I hope you enjoy this season of Lent. So not be wary in your sin but repent and rejoice in the never failing forgiveness of that you Lord and Savior grants to you each and every day.

Blessings!

Mel :) 

Stuck

Finally posting something! This will probably be a mess of a post, but I pray that it will still be a witness of Christ's love to you all :)

Life is not an easy road, but who ever said it was? Compared to a ton of people, I have been blessed beyond belief. I know that the devil attacks my mind to think otherwise. He drags me away from the joy and contentment I have in Christ and pulls me towards all the little things in my life that are not going to plan. When I let him get to me, anxiety comes in and comes fast and hard. Today is one of those days. Everything in my life, stress, drama, guilt all haunt my mind and torture me. My stomach churns inside making me feel sick. I have no drive, no joy, no Jesus. I wallow in the stupid things that with the help of Christ I can overcome. But instead I rest on them and wonder when I will feel better. When those energy and joy-draining thoughts and feelings will deteriorate. 

When and if you ever feel this way, I pray that you will remember that Christ knows what you are feeling. He has felt the weight of stress and fear. So much so he cried tears of blood. Because of His perfection, He went to His Father ( who is ours too ;) and asked that if the debt was not His to pay, that the weight would be lifted off by His Father's power. 

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

You Got a Choice

It seems as if people are in a constant state of unhappiness and dis contentedness.  Their attitude towards things are always negative. I feel bad for them, to a certain extent because I know that they have the potential of a life where the blessings are what they focus on.

The fact is, no matter how hard our life might seem, we have a choice in how we look at that problem and situation in life. We can either think "wow, this really sucks and you no what? I am just going to pout and whine about it because that seems like the easiest thing to do." This is actually what I have been seeing. People making the choice to be negative.

I am not trying to pat myself on the back or anything, please believe me in that, but I have been asked why I am positive the majority of the time. That is because I try to choose to be positive and to not take the blessings in my life for granted. It's not as easy as being negative and pessimistic and there are days when that is all I want to be is negative, but life is SO MUCH BETTER when I choose joy and remember that I have a Savior who created me and loves me everyday and enough to die on a cross for me! If that is not enough reason to be joyful, I don't know what is. 

Choose Joy!

Mel :)