oh goodness.....today at church i was taking notes like crazy, if i was writing on my hands (like some are wont to do...aka my sister) my arms would have been covered and i would have had to start writing on my legs...seriously...it was like the guest pastor had been trailing me for the past weeks and knew exactly what to say to my heart..
he started out in Zephaniah 3:17...the verse saying how God rejoices over us with singing, etc..etc...basically the sermon was one of those feel good "God loves you, you are apart of his family" ones and i really needed to hear it today....
so a little background...i've been frustrated and discouraged lately, especially in the last few weeks; school was stressful and it carried over into other aspects of my life...aka..my relationship with God...i morphed into viewing my relationship with Christ as more of a list of dos and don'ts and found myself never measuring up to what i felt God's expectations were....i couldn't maintain the perfectly spiritual lifestyle that i thought i needed to...basically i set my own expectations for myself really high and told myself that God expected nothing less than what i expected...(oh yes, my perfectionist nature is quite unforgiving)...so anyways, in briefest terms...keitha wanted to be perfect; strived for it and then berated herself mercilessly when she messed up (and she messed up a lot)....lol same old, same old...i seem to struggle with this a lot...boo
BUT...today as the guy was talking, it was like God came and put his arm around me and we sat together in church.....he ministered to my discouraged spirit and for the first time in a few weeks, i don't feel stressed out about my relationship with him....
so here's what the reminder was, hopefully it encourages you too...i know it did wonders for me
so basically...we don't have to DO anything in order for God to love and accept us...he created us, he loves us, and when we accept him into our lives, he adopts us into his family....he will never let us go, not ever...nor will he give up on us....hooray
point two....he created us how we are, he wants us to be THAT person, not someone else, NOT someone perfect....(in my case, this was an important reminder....idk about any of you, but i often think..."hmm i wish i could do this, i wish i wasn't like this...oh life would be so much better if i was like THIS"...you know, those kinds of things...and while, in the past year or so, these thoughts have become nearly non-existant....they still exist and i sometimes find myself disatisfied with how God made me, perhaps not physically, but how i operate on an emotional level, etc...) and seriously God sat me down today and was like...."keitha, shut up...i made you perfectly for the purpose i have in mind, now stop wishing to be someone you're not"...the end
point three....God meets us where we are, we don't have to reach a certain level first....we don't have to work our way up to meeting God....whew...isn't THAT a relief??
so here's a direct quote from what i wrote down...basically i can't find any other way to put it....
"Don't get frustrated b/c you aren't someone you weren't created to be anyways! Instead, be who God created YOU to be...work on consistancy, work on all those things that you feel convicted about, but don't get discouraged or frustrated when you fail...you aren't perfect, don't you don't HAVE to be in order for God to use you, work through you, love you, etc...All he wants is your love, obedience, and trust...after he has those things he'll take it from there...you can't do anything on your own so STOP TRYING...don't let satan lie to you and call you a failure just because you can't live up to your own expectations...you're no longer bound to those, you need to die to YOU, God's in control now and HIS expectations are the only ones that matter...so relax! God does not want your relationship with him to stress you out!! He gives peace, LET him give you peace...He wants you to relax!!"
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so basically........that's that....
the end
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6 comments:
keither i'm so glad you write blogs! you're wording and thinking is very fresh!
mwah!
xoxo,
tara harley
quote... "We don't have to DO anything for God to love us and except us...." End quote.
So, cool story, Saturday we (the youth leadership team) went to a prophetic service at New Day in K-zoo and there was some really good stuff that she (Isabel) spoke during the main section (blog coming soon). But then I got prophesied over afterwards and one of the things she said to me was that God was breaking the (label, spirit, whatev) of inferiority that I'd carried around for so long and that (this is cool) "God loves you not for what you strive to be, but for who and what you are. Who he created you to be." So, needless to say, your sentiment ring quite true with me. I love reading your thoughts, Keitha. Keep it up!
I'm glad that you received the ecouragement that you needed! :-D
miss you. and i can't wait to see you.
Good word, Kitz, good word. This has been something I've been struggling with since I've gotten here. Everyone is so stinkin' talented here and some are way more mature than me in their relationship with God and I was constantly thinking, "UGH! Why can't I be like THAT!?! Why aren't I that brave or that smart?" Well, that fact is...God made me who He wants me to be. My relationship with Him is in the exact stage it's supposed to be in and our relationship isn't like anyone else's. That's something I really love. The fact that the relationship I have with God is unique and no one else has a realtionship with Him like I do. How cool! So Kitz, good blog. It's kind of inspiring me to write another blog...hmmmmm...
your blog mentions ME! I am the writing on the hand person...
God is awesome. And i am using that correctly. Thankyou for your entry!
kayla who does not have a blogspot but does have a xanga and who updated. AHEM.
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