Happy New year everyone!! Life has been wonderfully busy over the holiday season which is why I skipped out on doing a bog post on Christmas. Cause who would want to wast a perfectly good holiday on writing instead of spending precious quality time with family!
I spent the last minutes of 2020 thanking my merciful Savior for all he has done in my life, and in the lives of my friends. I also spent those last remaining minutes making declarations about 2021, telling God I'm his, and to use me as He sees fit. Tell me, my good friend, does God have your permission to use you however he pleases?? Are we willing to go through fiery trials and persecutions for the name of Jesus?? Does God have our complete YES?? I have to keep checking myself over and over every day making sure my life and all of my "precious" things are His.
What does complete surrender look like?? What do you think of when you hear the word surrender?? Does it scare you?? Or make you fearful?? This is what I hear, and feel when God is asking me for more complete surrender. I feel Safe. I feel loved, and I feel valued. Because I know the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords is chasing after me. He is pursuing me to higher levels in his unearthly Kingdom. And I feel so honored that he would want to use a little girl such as me.
So God sees this 'Diamond in the rough' and tells her that he knows the plans he has for her, plans to prosper her and not to harm her, plans to give her hope, life and a future! But then He gets to work on refining me, pushing me deeper into the fire, molding me, shaping me. He's getting out his sledge hammer, and starts hammering away, while I'm crying out,
''God this hurts so badly"!! "Why are you doing this to me"??
Then God gently reminds me once more of his unfathomable love for me, how this is all for my Good and for his glory. He is the one who gives me strength to endure the refining process a little while longer.
I've heard the saying 'Sacrifice is the Ultimate Praise'. How true this is!! How can we put this into everyday shoe leather??
Which of the following scenarios brings God more honor and glory??
Lets say..
A mother calls me to come help her with the canning for the day, but it would interfere with my set aside 'God Time'. Should I sacrifice my God time or should I tell her I can't because I need to have personal time with God??
You get the point I'm sure!! God loves it when we spend our personal time with him!! But he also loves our sacrifice and it brings him all the more honor and glory!! We were created to worship and adore our King! We were also created to bring him honor and glory!!
So let's face this next week asking God "how can I Honor you and glorify you"??
But let me warn you!! If you pray this prayer he will answer you!! And you might not like the answers you receive! Our God is a radically awesome God and he is not mocked!! I'm not trying to scare you out of praying this prayer, but count the costs and know that he will answer.
I don't know where this new year will take me. I'm praying to God and asking him to show me what his plans are for me! So if you feel the inspiration to pray for me, Pray that I could learn to better discern his voice.
Ask, and ye shall receive. Knock and the door shall be opened unto you. Matt 7:7
Thanks so much Martina! This was such an encouragement! So timely- & boy I totally get the struggle of giving God all your precious things over & over again!! It really is so real! & sometimes they aren't even the precious things for me- sometimes it's the painful things...😬 but He wants them all the same! Anyway... tha is so much Tina! May u be blessed! Love u girl!❤
Hello martina! In reading your latest blog about surrender I was really inspired by the thot that instead of thinking that God is being hard on me etc when he asks for more surrender, knowing that he's chasing after me to refine me n making me emerge as pure undefiled gold.