Be Amazed

Today I want to simply challenge all of us to take inventory of our lives. Will you focus on all of the negative things and all of the things you don't have? Or will you be willing to focus on everything that you do have?!

Look back and remember all of the times God has got you through something. How often has he calmed the storms in your life. What all blessings has he given you? What miracles has he worked in your life? How has he shown faithful to you?

Let us be a people who are more aware of the blessings in each day. Let us be consistent and stand firm to not give up until God shows up!

Thank God for his majesty, his power, and his grace! The least we can do is praise God...

Let joy and peace fill your heart and soul today. Try to see God in at least one area or moment of your day today. Look for the divine appointments he is setting up for you!

Be Amazed!

~Awaken Us~
Brenna Stanford

Be Gracious and Attractive

5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.

Wow! When I read this my mind was blown!! That is what is so awesome about the Bible, it is alive and active. It can blow your mind! :)

There are a couple of things that I love about this scripture...

1) We are to live wisely among unbelievers. I'm sure many of you work with people or have family who is not a faithful Christian. I say 'faithful' because I believe that this also applies to baby Christians. What does it mean to live wisely? We are to represent Christ with every action. 

The Bible is very clear about Christians being stumbling blocks to others. Matthew 18:6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."

You see to Jesus it isn't just about the "right" or "wrong" that you do, it is about life and death! There are a lot of people out there who have been hurt my churches and Christians. Because of that they think the God we serve is hurtful. If you are the Christian harping on everybody for what sin they have in their life and everything they're not doing then please re-read this scripture:

Matthew 7:3-5 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

This goes back to our scripture, the second thing I love...

2) Let your conversations be gracious and attractive. How many of you can look back on your day and say that every word you spoke and conversation you had was gracious and attractive? I can't. Have you ever been around someone and within a matter of moments after hearing them speak you were totally and completely un-attracted to them? (This attraction isn't about 'oooh I want to date them...' It is simply as another human being, someone you would want to be friends with or spend time with.) What about somebody who every word they spoke was harsh and judgmental? Were you wondering about what they'd be saying about you?

So many times all you hear from Christians is how rotten people are or how 'you can't do this or your can't do that'. Or 'by golly you will go straight to hell for doing that', or 'I can't believe that she did that!' Our words are also supposed to represent Christ. When we speak people should be hearing 'grace, grace, grace, grace, grace...' or 'beauty, beauty, attractive, wonderful, awe, beauty...' So what are people hearing when you speak? 

I am very well aware of the plank in my eye and am not trying to gripe about yours. I want us, the body of Christ, to be able to be able to read these scriptures and be convicted by them. I want us to become better, to become fully awake and to live in that! It is so easy to become sleepy. It is easy to see every one else's faults. What if we all allowed the conviction of God through the Word and through the Spirit to change us? What would it look like if we were all living the way God created us to live, fulfilling the destiny He created us to fulfill?!

So today I challenge you, allow the Spirit to wake something up inside of you. Don't be afraid of that stirring inside you, embrace it with boldness and power! Live wisely in your world today and let your words be gracious and attractive!

~Awaken Us~

Brenna Stanford