Accountable!

It has been a while since I have blogged. I am so guilty of not being consistent with things that I start and I want to apologize to all my followers and readers for not blogging lately. Things have been so busy. But God sent me back into my blogging direction this morning! When I come over to my blog, I didn't know if I would be blogging or just reading those that I follow. Well then God prompted me to blog and then I asked God what was I supposed to be writing about. I thought and pondered for a few minutes and here I am now after being reminded by God of the struggle that I have had in my walk with him. And that struggle is "quiet" time with God alone.

I am a wife, mother of 2 (12 and 2 yrs), full-time employee, aunt of ball players, back issues, thyroid problems, etc. My days always seem so full and never ending and not enough time in the day for half of what needs to be done. I have been beating myself up lately for not spending the quality "quiet" time with God that he wants of us and that I desire strongly to have. I done good for a while getting up early and spending that time with him, but now I am back to having a hard time rolling out of bed early every day. I mean, I literally do good to get up in time to get myself dressed and get the baby ready and dropped off at the baby sitter and be at work on time. I am usually a few min late every day! And I still feel so tired and worn out daily. I do read scripture, devotions, daily reading plans, etc EVERY day, but it's not the QUIET time that i truly desire to have with God daily. I find myself getting frustrated and aggravated for not being able to do this and looking at other women who talk of their "quiet" time and wonder why I just can't do that. And thinking that my walk with God would be so much better if I would just spend that quality time with him daily and that he would not be so disappointed in me if I would just spend that time with him.

As women, we (at least I do) tend to keep our struggles to ourselves so that we won't be "judged" or thought of any differently by others. Well, I will say that, I have been blessed to be connected to a wonderful group of ladies that have committed to praying with and for me in this struggle and not think any differently of me and to love me right where I am! You never know who is having the same struggle as you until you open up and ask for prayer for your struggles. It is so important that we have the accountability and fellowship with our sisters in Christ to help keep us strengthened in our walk with God.

Tuesday, for the first time in a while, I decided to go walk on my lunch break. And what an amazing walk and talk I had with God during that time! I was just so amazed at how much God talked to me and how many people I was able to pray for and how much I was able to talk to God about during that time. I have been desiring for an accountability partner to really hold me accountable every day no matter what and to stay on me. I was thinking that I wasn't a kid and I shouldn't have to have that like we do our kids, but then God reminded me that I am a child of his and we do need discipline and accountability just like our kids do. Then he also reminded me that if I wanted that accountability person that I had to be faithful to holding someone accountable as well!

I am committing today to pray for any and everyone who has this same struggle or any other as well! I was reminded last night as I listened to two dear friends talk that God does not have us all at the same place at the same time. Just because they have their "quiet" time with God doesn't mean that they don't have another struggle that I know nothing about! 

1 Thessalonians 5:11~“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

James 5:16 ~“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

Love your sister in Christ!

Please feel free to comment with your thoughts, concerns, or prayer request!

Jesus' Love!

Good Morning! I just wanted to share with you all this morning my desire to love like God loves us. As my daily reading plan has come to the book of 1 John, I have received so much conviction and have learned so much. I have read these scriptures so many times and have even gotten daily encouragement from a sister of mine that just recently went through a study of 1 John from Good Morning Girls. She shared daily of how God was speaking to her through the study and even encouraged and shared scriptures from it daily, but I didn't receive from it then what I am getting from it now that God has put it in my path. Don't get me wrong, I get something from every devotion, encouragement e-mail, bible reading, etc. that I read or receive but it may not always be the same every time. You know how they say that you can read something a hundred times and get a different point of view or meaning from it every time? Well, God is showing me just how true this statement is.

1 John 3:7-21 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

As I was talking to someone last night on the phone, I was sharing with her of how God says that we are to love our "brothers and sisters" (this means everyone that comes from God) like he loves us. No matter what they do, how they act, our opinion of them, what we don't like about them, etc. If we were only to love those the ones that we thought done no wrong then we wouldn't have anyone to love and wouldn't have anyone to love us. We get so caught up on our opinions about others and how we feel about them that we forget that we are just the same as that person. We may not have the same "issues" or "problems" that they have, but we do have our own. It may be in a different form or way, but according to God it is all the same to him. So why would we not love someone just because we thought they were doing wrong or because we didn't like the way they were living? I was very convicted because I have said so many times that I can love someone but doesn't mean that I have to be there friend or like them. That's not true. What if God told us that he would love us but he didn't have to have a relationship with us because of something we done wrong? We would not like that at all. God says to love just like he does. God loves us even when we do wrong, he forgives and washes it clean and he sees it as it have never happened. Oh how much better the world would be if we could just do this. I want a relationship with God and oh how devastated I would be if God said that he would love me, but wouldn't have a relationship with me because of my actions. Even as I am writing this blog, I am getting more and more convicted as God is speaking to me right now. I say so much that I love someone but in all honesty, I don't love them like God loves us like he commands me to. He loves me so much that he sent his son to die on the cross for my sins. This is the love that we are supposed to have for EVERYONE. So, no I don't love these people like God commands me to do because some of these people, it would be hard to even consider doing what God done to show his love for me.

It is my truest deepest desire to start loving everyone regardless of their actions or my thoughts or opinions about them. After all, God is the only judge and it's not my place to judge them anyway and I am just as wrong as they are if I judge them. Those people that we claim to love but don't have to have a relatioship might be the people that will only see the light of Jesus through us. How do we expect them to change and do better, if they don't see the light of Jesus in christians? This blog is directly to myself this morning, but hoping that you will find encouragement through it.

Striving to love like Jesus,
Becca

Oh me, Oh my!!!

Well, it have been quite sometime since I have blogged last. Just let me be honest with you, I haven't blogged because (first of all) I haven't taken the time to focus and sharing what God has been doing and teaching me in my life, and (2nd of all) I have felt a little jealous of others writings and felt that I couldn't measure up to their post, blogs, writings, etc. so it would be of no use for me to even blog or write! That is just a confession of mine that I had to make to a dear sister and friend of mine yesterday and felt the need to confess to you as well! I am a Christian girl and I strive and desire to be as much like Christ as possible, but I am still human and have faults and failures! This is one of my BIG struggles! Feeling like I don't measure up with others and that I am "lower" than others. I know that according to God, this is not true. We are all the same according to him no matter what or where we are in our life or our walk with him. I found this verse as I was searching for answers from God!

Romans 2:11-"For one man is not different from another before God"

As humans, and even christians, there are going to be those people that treat you differently or make you feel "lower" than they are, but it doesn't matter how they treat you or how they make you feel.  The only one that we are to please and worry about is God! He tells up in scripture that no man is different than the other and he shows no favoritism! So, I have learned (just in the last day or so) just let those that do be held accountable for their actions, and for me to continue to love (no matter how i'm treated or feel) as Jesus loves'.

Well, just as I was feeling this way yesterday I get to work this morning to open up my e-mail and receive an e-mail from a fellow blogger that reminded me so much of myself! Please jump over and read Lessons from a Frog! This blog (every time she blogs) makes me feel like I am living inside of her. I am so thankful for how God uses her in my life. Isn't it just funny how God uses people that you have never even met or even know to minister to you and speak directly to you??? This blog was actually about not feeling loved by people. This blog is exactly how I feel. You (or anyone) can ask me why I feel like this, but I wouldn't really be able to tell you. I have friends, family, and co-workers that I know love me dearly. But still all the time I feel that I am not love by my friends, husband, it even goes down to me feeling like my daughter doesn't love me at times. Crazy I know. I know that God loves me and that is the only one that I should worry about, but I don't. I always worry about everyone else and if they love me or what they think of me. I feel like I need to measure up to them or be able to do and say the things that they do. I shouldn't feel like this because we are all uniqely made by Christ according to his will for our life. And my key verse that I cling to so much is Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and future" This one verse sums it all up and we can refer to this verse with anything we are going through. God knows the plan that he has for my life, and I know that his plan is for me to just be me and not who I think I should be according to everyone else. I know God loves me just as I am. He doesn't care how i look, write, speak, etc. He doesn't care that i'm short, he doesn't care that my hair may not be perfect, he doesn't care that my teeth may not be perfect, he doesn't care about any of it. All he cares about is our love and faith in him and our walk with him. He wants us just like we are! This is a major concept that I have to grasp and take hold of. This is a major struggle of this christian girl that God is leading me through and teaching me a lot about right now! I may not like it while I am going through it, but I praise God and thank him for the lessons that we learn through the things that we go through!

Here are a few videos to remind us of God's love for us! Please watch and be encouraged!

Love letter from Jesus

God's Love Letter!

Beautiful

So, if you are having these same struggles, just remember that you are not alone and God is always with us and he loves us just as we are.

Pushing to conquer this struggle!

Love your sister in Christ,
Rebecca