Better

The Lord never intended nor is it His plan for His children to live in mediocrity. It is His desire that we pursue better for our lives. Better can require us to launch out into a place that is unfamiliar, a place that can make us feel uncomfortable, but it will be so worth it in the end. Better should always be at the forefront of a believer's mind. Better is out there waiting for us to embrace it. Don't settle for less than. God didn't settle for less than when He sacrificed His son for us! Jesus was the ultimate, supreme sacrifice. It is not enough for me to tell you about better. You have to want better for yourself down on the inside. It is a mindset.  Surrounding yourself with others who want better will help your pursuit thereof. If no one in your circle desires better for their lives, maybe it is time to re-evaluate your circle.

I encourage you to pursue better.

Lonely

Life will bring us some lonely days...days where you feel you are the only one in your world and no one understands the intricacies of the inward battles within. From feelings of insecurity, rejection, depression, malice, they all are from the enemy. It behooves us to keep these before God so that they won't overtake our minds. The Lord will allow you to go through these spells to direct you to Him, to pray to Him, to seek Him. One thing that has helped me is taking advantage of these lonely moments by praying to Him my most inward thoughts and concerns. The things that you don't want anyone else to know. The things that you don't understand. He wants us to come to Him. It can be a strain to press pass how you feel and verbalize how you feel through prayer, but it is so worth it. I listened to the words of Mary Mary's song entitled, "Sitting With Me". It really encouraged me and reminded me that no matter how lonely I feel, who is not with me, or who forgets me, Jesus is right there!

A portion of "Sitting With Me"
By: Mary Mary
Yeah, I've been left out, looked over
Just for carrying this cross on my shoulder
But it's okay, with me
If I'm the last one that's picked for the team
I'll sit on the sideline
As long as He's sitting with me

Who knows the mind of God? How He makes His decisions and gives instructions. His ways are past our finding out and we do more harm than good trying to figure Him out. It takes trust in Him to follow His instructions and guidance even when it does not make sense to us. I hear people say all the time that in God, one plus one doesn't always equal two. Sometimes it equals five. Trusting Him says, I don't understand but I will do it anyway. Ask God to teach you how to trust, and more importantly trusting Him. It is my prayer and desire to trust Him in all that I am, all that I do, and all that I will do.

Change

Change is one of those love/hate relationships. It can be the most difficult thing to go through. Change disrupts what was, and sets what is on a different path. I have sung songs regarding change, how a change is going to come. I've heard sermons about how change is here, and in the midst of this declaration, I wonder if people are really ready for whatever the change will be. We get so pumped up with this declaration, but when change gets here, too many of us resist it. I am guilty of this myself. I have declared change is coming, only to find out that is not what I wanted. My expectancy of change was shattered. And at this point where I would be happy that I have escaped the what was, I felt worse than before.

It is the point of desperation, frustration, and vulnerability that we are so ready to flee our current situations. So, naturally when we hear change is coming, we get excited because we view it as an outlet...and it very well may be! But, I am learning just because change is coming doesn't mean it will yield a 'cloud 9' situation. We have to be ready for however change comes in our lives. It will involve embracing a new way of doing things, another level of thinking, and a renewing of our minds in order to successfully embrace real change. Real change does not come by osmosis. Sometimes the Lord will send change to disrupt our state of comfortability and to push us to something greater...higher heights and deeper depths. A deeper relationship with Him. A thrusting into our destiny. If you pray, God will help you embrace change. He knows our make-up, our build. Change is not easy, but with Christ it is easier.

It is easy for us as humans to cast judgement on people who we deem as flawed or not behaving in a Christian manner. When we see someone not living by, or shall I say, not heeding to the word of God we tend to turn our noses up...not outwardly all the time, but sometimes it's inward. It is at this point that we have instantaneous amnesia and forget we ourselves are yet flawed in some area of our lives. All of us are or have been struggling with something. Some have been delivered from deeply rooted sins, temptations that almost consumed us. The Bible says all have sinned and come short of His glory. 

Just because your fellow brother or sister has an area(s) of weakness that you don't struggle with does not give authorization for judgement. As Christians we should hold our brethren up and pray with them...not at them. We are more sensitive to others who struggle with those same areas we once did. It is through the tests, deliverance, and trials of time that compassion for others is birthed out of us. Jesus had compassion for the people. He was/is touched with our infirmities because he knows the struggles we have within. How? Because the bible says He was tempted in every way. So, if the Son of God was tempted and had to struggle against the enemy, we should arm ourselves in the same manner. We should not be so ready to judge others for their wrongdoings. Pray for them and love them as Jesus does with us in our struggles.

Even the highest person in the kingdom has low moments. Your position doesn't exempt you from the struggles and hardships of this journey in your walk with Christ. In fact, they will get harder as you progress in God. Our ability to overcome at every level becomes crucial, as there will be people who God will put in our path to help them rise and conquer the level that once tried to overtake us. We cannot allow these low moments to consume us to the point that we lose our faith in God and the things He has promised. We have to have a hope in God that will dissolve anything presented to us that is contradictory to His word. The song says 'My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name'. Trust God at His world...He cannot fail!