Brokenness

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 

-Psalm 51:17

What comes to your mind when you read this verse? What hit me when I read this verse this morning was that God's desire isn't for me to come to Him filled with myself and my own agenda. Instead, His desire is for me to come with Him with a heart of surrender, penitent of my sin and open to His will for my life. The broken and surrendered heart is only acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Though man despises broken things, God does not. He will not refuse it, reject it, or overlook it because His Son died on the cross to save broken sinners like you and I.

I can see in my own life that there are so many areas that He has shown me that I need to work on!! But God has been showing me that instead of looking at those areas as overwhelming, to view them as opportunities for Him to work in my life. And if I am open to Him and come to Him with a broken and contrite heart, He can ultimately use those areas to bring Him honor and glory. You know, ultimately, that is what He wants. It is for our lives to bring HIM honor and glory. Oh how easy it is to get wrapped up in myself, what self wants and what self's desires are, but God has a way of bringing my focus and attention back to Him and what truly matters. I am so thankful for the trials and troubles that draw my focus back to Him.

So my challenge to you is, that no matter where you are in your walk with the Lord or what you may be dealing with right now, God's ultimate desire for your life is for you to serve Him and to bring Him honor and glory!

Some Thoughts on the New Year

Its almost February and only now am I thinking about writing a blog post about the new year. Through out the month of January I have been thinking about this new year and the great possibility it holds. A new year means a fresh start and in so many ways the beginning of the year brings a time of reflection and thoughts of not only the future, but also the past.

My thoughts on the past have been that I am so thankful that God only allows and brings things into my life when He knows that I am ready for them and can handle them, but also will bring Him honor and glory. When I say ready for them, I mean, He has prepared me for it by the previous things He has placed before me and I know that He never gives us more than we can handle. Oh it may seem like more than we can handle at the time, but that is one of the blessings of serving a God that loves us and knows all things, He knows what we can handle even though it looks huge in our eyes. Last year was very amazing but also quite difficult in a lot of ways, but looking back I can see God's hand through out the entire year! Seeing how God worked through the situations He allowed, makes me so thankful I serve a wonderful God like Him who cares about me enough to bring hard things to refine me and draw me nearer to Him.

Then thinking on the future, though it is unknown, really brings no thoughts of worry or fear. Sure, I wonder what all will happen and all, but deep down inside I know that God has what is best in store for me, because He has proven in the past that He only allows those things into my life that are the best for me and bring Him honor and glory. I am excited to see how God will work in my life, as well as the lives of those around me this coming year. I have a feeling this year will be one full of great possibility, excitement and fun, some changes, new memories, new friends, and some growing but as long as God is in the midst of it all, I know that I have nothing to worry about!!

So what have your thoughts been about for this coming year? Does it look exciting or scary to you? I hope that though we don't know the future, that we remember that God is the one who holds the future and if we live our lives for Him, He will only bring into our lives, what is best for us and brings Him honor and glory.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 

-Jeremiah 29:11