Dependency

John 15:5 (NIV)

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

We live in a world that prides itself off of self-sufficiency and success. There is so much pressure weighing on every individual to be a self-made man or woman, to be independent and successful by the world's terms. It's so easy to get pulled into the mindset that we have to carry the weight of the world on our own, that we have to build ourselves up and provide for ourselves our own strength, our own prosperity. We crave that feeling of independence and accomplishment so that we can take pride in ourselves and what we've done. But God calls us to do something radically different. He calls us to live in a state of complete dependency on Him, to live with a humbled Spirit that is desperate for His presence. Jesus boldly states in His word that apart from Him, we can do nothing. We cannot thrive. We cannot prosper. We cannot grasp the purpose we are meant to fulfill in our lives without Christ being central. Only when we remain in Christ and allow the presence of His Holy Spirit to abide in us will we be fruitful and prosperous according God's will. And God's will is unfathomably greater than any of the world's standards to which we used to be enslaved. There is freedom and prosperity in being submerged in the presence of God. There is a deep and fulfilling purpose to be cultivated in a life in Christ if we would only come and abide in the Father's presence and open our hearts for God to come and abide in us as well.

Bring to God any way in which you are struggling to provide for yourself. There are so many things that can burden us with a sense of urgency to act on our own and preserve ourselves. My prayer for you is that whatever urgency you may feel to be self sufficient would be replaced with a deep dependency on God, knowing that He will provide for you, He will make you prosperous according to His will, and He will unfailingly fill your life with purpose. I pray that you would come to the Father today and know what it is to have your desperation satisfied with His presence.

I pray that this word would deepen your hunger for God today and your dependency on Him. I hope you all have an amazing day! :)

Madelynn

Immersed

Ephesians 6:16 (NIV)

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

 

I love the comfort and sense of security that comes with reading about the armor of God in His word, especially the shield of faith. So often I feel like things are out of my control, like I'm being attacked from every side, and my only source of protection is my faith in God. My soul rejoices in knowing that in Christ we are more than conquerors against the forces that threaten us everyday. However, as I was reading this, I struggled to understand one word: extinguish. How can a shield extinguish a fire? Doesn't a shield merely deflect whatever hits it? As I began to study more into the armor of God and how it parallels with the actual armor of Roman soldiers at that time, I found that Romans soldiers used shields that were covered in leather and often soaked in water so that it would extinguish the flame-tipped arrows the enemy would fire at them in battle. And then God pressed on my heart why this random historical fact that I had stumbled upon was spiritually significant. Just as the Roman shield was soaked in water so that it would extinguish the fiery arrows of the enemy, so our faith that shields us should be so fully immersed in the Living Water that is Christ so that when the devil wages war on our souls, his flaming arrows that are designed to seer and scar our hearts will not only be deflected but extinguished and rendered useless so that the his detrimental fire cannot spread elsewhere. God knows that we are going to be attacked, and He knows that we are not strong enough on our own to defeat the forces that are pressed against our hearts daily. That is why He equips us with a steadfast faith in Christ, who is the life water for our souls, who not only satisfies us and nourishes our hearts but also unfailingly guards our hearts from all of the attacks of the enemy. It is when we completely immerse our souls in the true living water that is Christ that we are more than conquerors against the enemy. It is then that we will not be shaken but rather empowered and emboldened to go throughout the battles we face everyday with confidence that our hearts are guarded with this impenetrable shield of faith.

 

Open up to God about how you feel you are being attacked and the daily battles you face, and bring to Him whatever burdens are pressing on your heart in this moment. If you feel God stirring in your heart, commit yourself to being fully immersed in He who is the Living Water, and ask God to come into your heart and guard your soul with this steadfast faith He has equipped you with. Let your spirit be emboldened by the security that comes with being submerged in Christ and the ultimate protection that He brings.

 

My prayer for you is that today your faith would be completely submerged in the Living Water that is Christ and that you would have confidence in the protection God provides. I hope you all have an amazing day :)

Madelynn

Well Done

Matthew 25:21 (NIV)

 

"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'"

 

Over the past few weeks, I have been blessed with the opportunity to serve my mom in new and challenging ways. On the Saturday before Christmas, my mom was taking pictures for a 50th wedding anniversary where she caught her heel on a mat outside of the reception and landed hard on her arms on the concrete. She has broken her left hand and her right arm, which means that most of the time I have to be her hands for her. And when you think about all of the things your hands do, it's pretty challenging to be someone else's hands while you're trying to juggle everything your hands need to be doing as well. But at the end of everyday as I finish helping her, my mom tells me, "Madelynn, you are such a good daughter." And I rejoice. Not because I am proud but rather because my heart is satisfied in knowing that my Heavenly Father is using me to bring joy to my mother's heart, and that she is well pleased with God at work within me. And every time she says those words, my soul turns restlessly within me with longing expectancy for the day when my Heavenly Father will look at me and say, "You have been such a good daughter. Well done, good and faithful servant." Just as I am having to be the hands of my mother to serve her, so I am also called to be the hands and feet of God. God calls us each into motion so that we may take the few things he has given us and faithfully go out and serve Him to bring Him all the glory. God has set each of us apart to live lives that glorify Him as we shine His light in our lives to those around us. And as the Father sees us living in His light and purposefully moving as His hands and feet He is well pleased with us. And He calls us to join Him in this satisfaction, to share with Him the sweet joy that comes with God's delight in us allowing Him to work through us.

 

Humble your heart before God and talk to Him about anything that is pressing on your heart in this moment. Allow His Holy Spirit to stir in you a passion to serve and live faithfully for God. Ask Him to come into your heart and guide you in new ways to be used by Him so that He may receive all the glory, honor and power, for He is so worthy. Cherish that your Father is well pleased with your heart and with how you are allowing Him to work in you and through you. Let your soul be satisfied in that sweet picture of standing before God one day as He says to you, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

 

I pray that this would bring you joy and satisfaction as God stirs a fresh passion within you. I hope you all have a marvelous day! :)

Madelynn

Transformation

Ephesians 4:22-24

 

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

 

So many of us feel chained to our old way of life, the things we've done in the past that haunt us throughout our days. We become so consumed by what we once were and the actions we regret, and we begin to think that our past defines us. We try so hard to put death to our old selves and our ghosts of the past, but we struggle with replacing it with something new and better, and often end up running right back to the things that we tried to cast off in the first place. It becomes a vicious and consuming cycle that only ends up hurting us more than giving us the healing we so crave in the aftermath of our pasts. But here God calls us to something greater, something far more fulfilling. He calls us to completely cast off our old, corrupted ways of life and to be completely transformed into a new creation in Christ. As we are freed from our past and made into a new creation, we are also made to pursue a new and greater purpose in life: to be a mirror of the masterpiece that is Christ. We are created into new beings to reflect the righteousness and holiness of God so that all may see and enter into the beautiful state of transformation that comes with surrendering our lives to Christ. God is good; He is our Restorer, our Healer and our Father who comes to not only break the chains of our old selves but to transform us and recreate us into new beings with a deeper purpose in life that will never leave us empty and unsatisfied but rather fulfilled and sustained in Him.

 

Humble your heart and come to God with whatever may be burdening you from your past. Come to Him with raw honesty and abandonment, for God loves to hear your unveiled prayers. If you feel God pressing on your heart, ask Him to come in and break the chains of your past self that hinder you and to transform you into a new creation set apart for a greater purpose in Christ. Cherish this moment and the joy that comes with restoration.

 

I pray that you would find incredible joy today in knowing that you are a new creation in Christ and that you are so loved. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

 

Madelynn