EmmieO'ski ✝️🇺🇸

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I love, Jesus, my family & America in that order,
USMC widow,
Not a Liberal.

[EmmieO'ski ✝️🇺🇸 @Sharonandmax]

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[EmmieO'ski ✝️🇺🇸 @Sharonandmax]

Daily Surrender

What does it mean to be humble in our relationship with God?

There are three things that the apostle James mentions that can help us: submit to God, resist the devil, and draw near to God.

- SUBMIT TO GOD  
Submitting to God means coming under His authority. Rather than living according to our own desires and ways, we should submit those things to God and live according to His desires and standards. 

In order to truly submit to God, we must first recognize that His ways are better than ours, and He knows better than we do. We must also believe that He has our best intentions in mind. He cares for us.

- RESIST THE DEVIL
The devil desires to keep us from our relationship with God and cause us to stray from Him. When we resist him with God’s strength, he will flee from us.

- DRAW NEAR TO GOD
The best way to submit to God and resist the devil is to draw close to God in our relationship with Him. Not only does He promise to stay close to us, but He will also give us the strength and grace to endure every trial.

Take a moment to think about your own life. Are there parts of your life or plans that you haven’t yet surrendered to God? Every day is a new opportunity to submit ourselves to God and to draw near to Him.

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Closer Than You Think

In one unsuspecting moment, everything can change.

A relationship can shatter, a dream can suddenly end. Your heart can break for a million different reasons: grief, rejection, loneliness, uncertainty, tragedy, betrayal.

When something terrible happens and the world makes zero sense…

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. 
Psalm 34:18 NLT

David, the writer of Psalm 34, preached what he lived. He experienced some intense highs and fierce lows, but he recognized God’s presence in the midst of his circumstances. He knew that God was near, and God could change any situation in an instant.

Is your heart broken? Is your spirit crushed?

God is near.
He hasn’t left you to fight for yourself.
He sees you in your heartbreak.
He meets you where you are.
He has not forgotten you.
He has not abandoned you.

This doesn’t mean you won’t face hard things. But even when your mind races and your heart doubts, God offers a peace and an intimacy that cannot be fully explained.

Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we now have constant access to God’s presence through His Holy Spirit. There are many places in the Bible where the Holy Spirit is described as the Comforter—ready to soothe, guide, counsel, and encourage. 

The comfort we receive from God is a gift from His Spirit who is always with us. So if your heart is breaking and your spirit is crushed, know that you are in good hands. God is near, and He will not abandon you.

Trials and hardships are a part of life, but God has the final say.

Right now, take a few moments to name anything that has crushed your spirit. Then, give yourself permission to just sit in God’s presence for a few moments. When you’re ready, consider memorizing today’s verse and meditating on it throughout your day.

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Suffering Redeemed

Look around and you’ll quickly identify suffering, grief, and injustice. Maybe you’ve experienced some of these things yourself—a difficult season, a profound injustice, or a deep grief.

Suffering rarely makes sense. And the hard truth is: most of our questions regarding suffering will go unanswered at this time. However, Romans 8:18 provides us with a perspective that can help us in seasons of suffering:

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

In this verse, Paul, the author of Romans, points us to the future. All throughout Scripture, God has been working within His people to bring redemption and make things new. 

We live in one reality, which includes suffering and grief. But one day, God will return and complete the work He has begun in Jesus. When He returns, Scripture says that all suffering will cease. There will be no more tears, pain, or sickness (Revelation 21:4). At that time, when we join God in heaven, we will be perfected and made whole.

Paul’s encouragement to us is this: persevere through your current season of suffering because what awaits you will be worth waiting for. When God returns and brings us into His presence, we won’t think of the past suffering that we’ve endured. This is why Paul says that our present suffering cannot compare to what will be revealed in us in the future.

How often do you think about heaven? How often do you praise God for His continued work of redeeming us and making us new? Take some time to think about these things.

The more we consider the future and our union with God, the more this perspective will encourage us to endure difficult seasons of life.

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Reordering Our Priorities

The northern tribes of Israel in Amos' time seemed like they were doing all the right things. They offered sacrifices to God and were exact in their religious observations. And yet, the book of Amos is written to them as a warning—a warning that destruction that would befall them if they refused to change?

Why?

Because they had neglected the true heart of loving and worshiping God.

While they were doing many of the "right" things, it's what they weren't doing that drew God's ire. They failed to take care of the poor and needy. They turned their eyes away from injustice. Many had turned to idols for help and prayer.

Through Amos, God told the people of Israel that it is just as important to be righteous inwardly as it is outwardly. We cannot say we love God and others when we fail to help people who are within our power to help.

Just as James 1:27 tells us, true religion includes helping orphans, widows, and those who are in distress. James goes on to write that faith without works is a dead faith (James 2:26). In short, faith is both believing in the Lord and doing the things He has told us to do.

Take some time to think about your own life: How much time do you prioritize on your own spirituality versus serving others?

What ways can you begin to take steps toward serving in your church, your neighborhood, or your school in order to help those in need. All of these are ways that our faith becomes complete in Christ as we follow after Him.

[EmmieO'ski ✝️🇺🇸 @Sharonandmax]

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Seek This First

There are plenty of things that fight for our attention. Our time and schedules get filled with people and responsibilities—each with their own needs and urgency.

In Jesus’ famous sermon in Matthew 6, He spends time talking about the various things in life that we give our attention to. Jesus tells us that instead of spending our time worrying about our basic desires in life, we should seek His Kingdom and His righteousness. If we do that, then everything else will be taken care of.

So what does it mean to seek God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness? 

God’s kingdom is about God’s rule and reign over all of creation. His kingdom began in Jesus’ ministry on earth and is now expanding and continuing through the Church. The work of the kingdom is to continue to tell others about the hope of Jesus, and to teach all the things Jesus has commanded us.

To seek God’s righteousness is to desire to live the way God intended. It is to live according to God’s commands, which requires that we make decisions that align with God’s Word.

Jesus says that if we do these two things—seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness—then every other area of our life will make sense. When we don’t prioritize God’s desires for our life first, then we will end up worrying about things that are temporary. 

Living a life according to God’s Word ought to be our greatest priority, because God’s Kingdom will last forever.

Think about how you spend your time. Do you worry about things that are outside of your control? Consider how you can live for God’s kingdom rather than the things of earth. In what ways can you reprioritize your life in order to seek righteousness? Rather than worrying about things in life you can’t control, pray for God to meet your needs.

[EmmieO'ski ✝️🇺🇸 @Sharonandmax]

Seek This First

There are plenty of things that fight for our attention. Our time and schedules get filled with people and responsibilities—each with their own needs and urgency.

In Jesus’ famous sermon in Matthew 6, He spends time talking about the various things in life that we give our attention to. Jesus tells us that instead of spending our time worrying about our basic desires in life, we should seek His Kingdom and His righteousness. If we do that, then everything else will be taken care of.

So what does it mean to seek God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness? 

God’s kingdom is about God’s rule and reign over all of creation. His kingdom began in Jesus’ ministry on earth and is now expanding and continuing through the Church. The work of the kingdom is to continue to tell others about the hope of Jesus, and to teach all the things Jesus has commanded us.

To seek God’s righteousness is to desire to live the way God intended. It is to live according to God’s commands, which requires that we make decisions that align with God’s Word.

Jesus says that if we do these two things—seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness—then every other area of our life will make sense. When we don’t prioritize God’s desires for our life first, then we will end up worrying about things that are temporary. 

Living a life according to God’s Word ought to be our greatest priority, because God’s Kingdom will last forever.

Think about how you spend your time. Do you worry about things that are outside of your control? Consider how you can live for God’s kingdom rather than the things of earth. In what ways can you reprioritize your life in order to seek righteousness? Rather than worrying about things in life you can’t control, pray for God to meet your needs.