Throne of Grace

In my #shereadstruth devotional this morning, we are studying the book of Hebrews, which opens us up to who Jesus was & still is. We all typically know the "basics" which is that Jesus was here, didn't sin, & was crucified for our sins so we now we can have an intimate relationship with him, but who is this Jesus? What is this intimate relationship he craves to have with us?   " Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. "( Hebrews 4:16) Throne of grace, this name for Jesus makes me have hope & see Jesus as such a safe, comforting place to be. Somewhere & someone I want to draw near to..  Jesus extends grace to us, he knows us fully. " For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." ( Hebrews 4:15) Jesus is the son of God, but he also was here on this Earth before. He was tempted by anger, worry, lust, substances, & so on. He cried out to the father in prayer because he needed him, just like us. " Although he was a son he learned obedience through what he suffered." ( Hebrews 5:8) Jesus suffered much pain & temptation, it was hard to not give in even through he was the son. He learned through drawing near to his Father. I feel like so many people, including myself, feel like Jesus doesn't understand or that he doesn't want to hear our tears or our sob story. I actually feel bad when I breakdown in front of Jesus because I don't want to him to feel like I just am unhappy with how my life is going. The truth is, he knows our hearts, our thoughts, & our futures. He wants to help, he loves us with a love we will never be able to even comprehend.  Tell him, cry it out to him. He loves you. forever. no matter what. He wants to extend his grace to your hearts, you just have to ask him. You have an invitation to the throne of grace.

The book of Ruth - God's name for me defines me , not my circumstances in this world #shereadstruth

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s there a discrepancy between the names by which Jesus calls you and the names you give yourself? Are there circumstances in your life to which you are giving undue power, power that rightfully—and in reality!—belongs to our sovereign God alone?  Sister, who names you today—your God or your circumstances?

Funny how this book of Ruth has so unbelievably & completely matched to my thoughts & wonders these past few weeks. God reassured me greatly in this devotion ,which has focused on this beautiful woman. I fell in love with this lady of audacious faith, love, & obedience. A lot of my previous writings focus on this topic as well because it has bothered me & so many other teenage girls, especially, I have come to find. We are so wrapped up in what this world expects of us. I am guilty of this. We follow these worldly so called "expectations" of what we are to act like or become. So often, I feel so small. I feel so desperately tiny compared to this oh so massive world. I am just one of seven billion people. I feel like my little steps don't matter to anybody, but in this woman of God it just showed me just how a faith & obedience can truly affect the world immensely. A move based on solid faith can truly matter. We feel like our story isn't great because we haven't been a superhero or won a gold medal. We buy this lie of statistics. That if you have a broken family, you are broken. You are immediately doomed to this stereotype of rebellion. I honestly bought into it. I blamed my decisions on feeling unimportant because I felt my importance laid in the attention being placed on me by this world. Ruth took a step of leaving her homeland. She didn't have anything but Naomi. She looked up to this woman of God & declared to follow her God. This made me think, Naomi was so strong in her faith that she made a woman step out in faith to a God she didn't even know. Ruth just saw the woman Naomi was & cherished it. I believe she craved to be that kind of woman. I hope to be a woman who draws people to such a graceful & perfect lover who makes tiny steps into such a gorgeous story. Now Ruth and Naomi travel to Bethlehem. When these women get there the people questioned if it was Naomi. They did this because there was an obvious struggle to her life, that she was tired & worn. Naomi had lost her husband plus her sons. That would be the worst feeling I think I could imagine, to lose all the men in my life. She told these people to call her Mara, which meant bitter. She was drained. I see her because I have been so drained where I literally just take on the title of "depressed", " lonely", "unimportant", & "bitter." This is so true though in so many of us. That we take on these identities of our circumstances. We look at our life & think, I just can't keep it up. The thing is that to our Great God, we are not forgotten. We are not our circumstances. I am forgiven. I am blessed. I am free. I am free to be God's daughter, his beloved child. Just like Naomi, we are called to be redeemed. I have hidden for so long under my struggles. I have thought so many times, God where are you ? The truth is that he is always here. He is our storywriter. A great storywriter knows how to pan it out. Naomi and Ruth sought his face still through this time of hurt & confusion.  Then God let the right man, at the right time step in to take care of them both. They waited. They believed in God's favor coming. Their faith was built up because before they reached their high points because they had to believe in their valleys of what seemed like death, that their God who is so faithful would provide. Ruth's great faith led to the journey of the birth of Christ. Jesus Christ who is our savior & is my very hope on this Earth. What if Ruth had let her circumstances name her instead of God? If Ruth had hash-tagged herself as " forgotten" ? The thing is that Ruth named herself a daughter who is blessed. I am blessed. You are blessed. Our small steps through faith, in the dark, are a huge part in God's extraordinary story of forgiveness, grace, and redemption.

#shereadstruth/jesus calling ~ trained by Grace

" These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority" Titus 2:15

" What right turn in  your character is God training you to make so that you might be more like Jesus"

I believe that I get so wrapped up in the future and accomplishing everything in the perfect manner to achieve the future I have planned for myself, that I do not seek his face at all times. I seek an email from a college or a friend or a boy. I seek something to do or I sit on pinterest to plan a house of dreams. The truth is that we must " seek his kingdom and these things will be given to you" (Luke 12:31). The passage of Luke 12: 22-31 explains not to worry that the Lord has you and sees you. Sometimes I feel as if I think I'm too small to be recognized. There are all these plans constantly buzzing through my head which leave me stressed. Now, those of  you who know me can second this, but when I am stressed, the wrath comes blazing out. My mind just can't take anymore. The simplest task will turn into a full on rage of anger and complaining. I feel as if I have to do it now and by myself. I am a pretty independent person. I feel like I can do anything by myself, the truth is self-reliance only works for a little while. Eventually, you run out of steam. Running out of steam, at least to me, is the worst feeling because all of a sudden my emotions blast out of this world. This is when I become farther from "like Jesus," because ,as my mom would say, " I get my worry on." The thing is that grace covers the worry. Deciding that Jesus has my college, car, boy, and friend situation in the palm of his hand and truly believing it, is where the amazing peace comes flooding in. "I have told you these things, so that you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. but take heart! I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD" (John 16:33) Remembering that as Christians following Christ, we have him with us. We have the winner and conqueror if we just seek his face and decide to take advantage of the grace he gives us and allows us to give other people. My future Is so much bigger than anything I can imagine. Worrying about not getting exactly what  I want and when I feel I should get it is where I think God is trying to change me. That I'll tune into his signs and turn to his word in worry instead of tweeting in frustration or hurting people with my words through my anger. Grace covers.