I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. ( Isaiah 61:10 )
Joshua our worship Pastor exhorted the Church with this verse a few weeks ago. I had never read it before then but it has been so beautiful meditating on it since then. God has dressed me up, clothed me in salvation. He has given me a suit of salvation! By His power working in me He has suited me up ... in Salvation !! What an honour and privilege!
A year ago this month I got married to Jesus! Basically I said yes to Him, I said I DO. I gave him my heart, all of it with no more reservations ( the Maker is my bridegroom
Isaiah 54:5 ) and nothing in my life has been the same again, everything changed! For my good!!!
I see a tonne of things I struggled with, so many times I tried to make myself a better me, but now I know that all that good stuff like new year resolutions, will power and best intentions are not enough to make you and I the best version of ourselves! Only Jesus has the power to do that for us for He created us with His perfect plan for our lives, according to His will. When a person begins to see themselves as and for who God made them to be, through His loving eyes, through His perfect image of themselves, they will raise the standard of how you look at themselves, how they carry themselves, and how they live.
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For years I struggled with drugs and alcohol, I always knew I could do better with myself, but my will power to stay sober never lasted long, I always caved eventually, I always went back to self destruction mode.
Up until salvation, I hadn't understood the true meaning of purity and how waiting for your one day spouse is muuuuuch more than not 'going all the way'. I sometimes smh and laugh when I think of how many times I proudly announced to close friends that 'I was celibate' (which didn't last either). The thing is I was still involved in sexual sin during those celibacy phases even if I wasn't having sex per se, but I didn't know better. I had lots of misconceptions about what life really should be. Most importantly, I had confused good standards for God standards.
1 Corinthians 15:24-28 "
There is no disease, no addiction, no demon, no bad habit, no fault, no vice, no weakness, no temper, no moodiness, no pride, no self-pity, no strife, no jealousy, no perversion, no greed, no laziness that Christ does not aim to overcome as the enemy of his honor. And the encouragement in that promise is that when you set yourself to do battle with the enemies of your faith and your holiness, you will not fight alone. Jesus Christ is now, in this age, putting all his enemies under his feet. Every rule and every authority and every power will be conquered. " - John Piper
Alcoholism, drug abuse, lust, sexual immorality and low self esteem, God has conquered all those things and so much more that had once conquered my life. It doesn't matter how many times I tried to stop or realised that they were destroying me, I always failed at letting them go and fixing me. It wasn't until I let the power of Jesus into my life that I could do it. This is the kind of God I need, this is the kind of God I serve. One year later and me and Him are celebrating our 1st year anniversary! I have been born again for a year! I am a new creation, my sin was taken from me as far as the east is from the west
2 Corinthians 5:17 ,
Psalm 103:12 !!
Is it easy living for Jesus? Good question! Well, in my own strength..that's an easy no it's not, because that brings us right back to trying to live good through the strength of will power, good intentions, resolutions and all of that. True living for Jesus involves giving all of you to Him.
The good, the bad and the ugly... allowing the Holy Spirit to come live in your life and you submitting to the authority of God over your entire life. You come just as you are and surrender to Him. The most interesting thing about it all is that in God you find yourself by losing yourself, you die to live again, you lose to win again (
Matthew 10:39 ,
Matthew 16:25 ). He is for you, He is rooting for you, He wants the best of the best for you.
Jeremiah 29:11. But you've got to come to Him on His terms
John 8:12,
John 14:6. Because His terms are eternally better for you than the very best of your own plans would have been ! You've got to trust Him.
I am not perfect, far from it, but I get up daily with the desire to be faithful to Him. God isn't looking for or expecting perfect, he knows we are human, so very imperfect! He is simply looking for a heart that is turned towards Him. That's all you and I need to do to begin and continue this journey with Him. Spiritual growth is not automatic, it takes intentional commitment. One must want to grow spiritually, decide to grow, make an effort to grow and persist in growing. I have seen this work in my life. It is real.
Is it worth it living for Jesus? ABSOLUTELY YES!!! That will always be my answer, because there is nothing outside Jesus worth living for. Speaking from experience, I reiterate, It is absolutely worth it living for Jesus! What He asks of you, what you have to give up doesn't even compare to what He gives you, and continues to give in return, It's absolutely beautifully insane! Living for Jesus is the true living. I dare you to try Jesus! Accept that He has already paid the price for all your sins, it is done, paid for, no debt, you just have to accept His forgiveness. Accept His pure, full, whole, satisfying unconditional Love for you and accept His salvation (
1 John 2:12). Understand that you were born a sinner but He atoned for your sin and vindicated you so that your sins are forgiven on account of His name. Let Him be Lord over your life by telling Him that that's what you want. He is a gentleman, He would never force Himself on you or go where He isn't invited or welcome. If you do this, I assure you that this will be the best decision you ever made in your entire life, and the ripple effect will be going on to making better decisions for the rest of your human life with His help, receiving a peace and joy unlike anything else this world can ever you, and life eternal for when we transition into eternity after our days on earth are done.
John 3:3 . He is calling you right now, listen to that voice, that nudge...say yes to Him.
God loves you, if you paid attention, I bet ya you'd love Him too! ( I heard that in a song a while back, I just don't what it was called and who the artist was). I share it because of the truth in it. I know now how little I loved God before I was born again even though I called my self a Christian. But when I really began to pay attention, giving Him all of me, getting to really know Him, I fell in love, and I fall deeper in love daily! I assure you, salvation is not boring, it is not something you want to wait to do later after 'having fun'. Salvation is the plan that we all needed to get on like yesterday!!
Love, Ree
** PS: We are almost there!!** Look out for my first YouTube Video going up in September as a toast to 1 year of blogging !! I will be branching out into Vlogging a little later in the year as God leads, but this particular one will be a very very special share .
Come over to My Facebook Page to stay in touch with me when I am not on here :)
Ps: If you are ever in Nairobi and are looking for a church family to visit with, during your short or long stay. My church
Eagle's Faith Christian Centre ( EFCC) would be privileged to host you!
OR if you live in Nairobi and are looking for a church family or if you simply want to visit and send our love back to your home church family, get in touch with me for directions, or
Get Directions Here !
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