Yesterday, I asked Jesus to make me more like Him. And His response surprised me so much. On my way to class, I just felt in my heart that Jesus was telling me, “I want you to smile at every single person you encounter today.” So simple, yet so profound. It really hit me that this world is missing so much joy. And how much Jesus must have smiled! He had such life and healing and peace and love inside of Him. He must have been overflowing with the joy of the Lord and love for those He was here to serve. In such a dreary world, I think one of the most profound things we can do is simply be full of joy. A smile can change someone’s entire day. And a smile can show someone the love of the Lord without a single word. Just keep that in mind today.
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Look at you! You’re living perfectly fine without the person you thought you needed.
If you didn’t matter so much to God, you wouldn’t matter so much to the enemy.
Louie Giglio
Reblogging again cause powerful and needed
“Keep praying even if you only have a whisper left.”
— (via randytemple)
To the people who say “God loves me exactly as I am, He wouldn’t change a thing about me!” You’re right about God loving you exactly as you are. He loves all of us exactly as we are. He loves even the furthest from Him, the most against Him, the God-hating anti-Christianity people are loved by Him, so of course you are.
He may love you as you are, and nothing will change that, but He doesn’t want us to stay as we are. We’re sinners, He never intended for us to be sinners, we did that to ourselves. We severed ourselves from God using the free will that He gave us. And despite loving us while we’re sinners, He wants us to be made new.
You can’t put true and real faith in God and not end up an entirely different person. Believing that you don’t need to change shows you worship and follow the idea of God, which is always cozy and comforting, but that’s not the real God, it actually borders on the line of idolatry.
When you put your faith in the real, raw, sometimes difficult to understand God, the things that you think define you now will be stripped away and you’ll be wrapped in all the things God calls you to be. The closer you get to Him, the more flawed you realize you are. The more you notice, the more you need to rely on Him, not yourself, to transform you and bring you closer. It’ll be messy, confusing, uncomfortable, and requires constant sacrifice, but it will be 100% worth it.
You just don’t follow God fully and not end up changed. That doesn’t happen. Come as you are, as broken and sinful as you are, and expect to be given a new identity. Be prepared to have to relearn yourself, but also be prepared to be able to love yourself and others and most importantly God in a way you can’t possibly imagine.
“God absolutely loves you, right now, even in your most downward spiral of doubt and frustration. Tell Him how you feel. He will love you through that. He won’t bite your head off. And when you feel guilt, simply take your eyes off yourself and look to the cross. It was there He took on even the guilt you would feel of feeling far away.”
— JS Park | What the Church Won’t Talk About (via trytasmilemore)
People: “Follow your heart”
Me: Nah man I’m gonna keep following Jesus because my heart leads me to being an emotional mess that doesn’t know what to do or where to go. I need my heart to live but I don’t need it to guide me lol. Plus, it’s inside me anyways…it’s surrounded by darkness…IT CAN’T EVEN SEE.
“marry a man who loves Jesus. who loves God before he even knows you exist. a man who falls to his knees, with tears in his eyes and hands held high, without a care to the world watching him. a man who knows that God is the best foundation in your relationship. a relationship that brings you each other closer to Him. the man who loves Jesus will respect you. he’ll pursue you and treasure you. he won’t pressure you or control you, but gently walk beside you and lead you. he will appreciate you as the gift and beauty you are, and remind you of it every day. he will worship with you. he’ll pray for you and pray with you he will lead you with strong hands, stand up when you can’t, but remind you that only God can satisfy.”
—
“Can I say something to young ladies here? I’m trying to pick my words carefully here. Your husband, whoever he is, single ladies, will have an unbelievable amount of influence over your sons and daughters in regards to spiritual things. If you want your children to love Jesus deeply, hold out for a man that is Godly. And let me tell you this: I am well aware that Godly men are rare. Lots of neat Christian boys, not a lot of Godly men. And we’re working our tails off for you to try to develop some into that. But don’t settle, because it’s better that you be lonely now than you be married and lonely later. Are you tracking with me? It is better that you be lonely now than for you to get married to a man that will teach your kids everything but the way of Jesus.”
— Matt Chandler (via faith-becomes-love)
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