dailydevotionaldiary

[dailydevotionaldiary]

Just over 6 years ago, I was sleeping in tunnels, parks, bus stops, desert washes, and behind dumpsters. I held a sign on the side of the road that read, "Homeless and hungry." Unfortunately, I was deep in an addiction with opiates and methamphetamine. There were days I had stolen food or clothes because I was desperately hungry or had such dirty smelly clothes. I spent nights in jail because of those decisions and ones like that. Those were my darkest of days, filled with such shame and pain. An endless cycle of insanity...Wanting so badly to get sober, off the streets, and start fresh without the weight of the shame and guilt. Yet, the withdrawals, shame, guilt, and self hate kept pulling me back in. I lived for 3 years like this.

I remember, one night in a tunnel, I prayed on my knees to God. I prayed, "Please God help me to get out of this situation. I want my family back. I want my life back. I will do whatever you ask and whatever you want." About a week after that, my boyfriend got arrested. We were genuinely in the "wrong place at the wrong time." A dealer had framed his drugs on my boyfriend, and he ended up going down for it. At the time, I was devastated, but looking back, I absolutely see how God placed us in the RIGHT place at the RIGHT time. My prayer was answered. After he was sentenced to prison, I left the streets, got sober, turned my life back to God, and thrived in an amazing program filled with faith and love and healing. I graduated the program, too.

Since leaving, I have moved forward with my life, continuing to follow Christ. God has blessed me with my hearts desires, a wonderful husband, and a beautiful baby boy. I now celebrate 6 years sober, and it feels amazing. Everything of my past feels so distant; almost like it never happened. But I could never forget this incredible thing God has done in my life, and I will keep telling of His forgiveness, grace, faithfulness, and love by sharing my story!

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Some wandered in the wilderness, lost and homeless. Hungry and thirsty, they nearly died. “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress. He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live. Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. -Psalms 107:4-8

[dailydevotionaldiary]

There are giant flames ahead of you. It's something you can't escape. You're not sure what to do... You are so scared of being burned... You've tried to go around, and you've tried to run away. The flames are getting bigger, and you feel backed into a corner...

You fool! Don't you know that Jesus is fireproof? Don't you remember that Jesus lives inside you? You will not be burned up in the fiery furnace if you have Jesus in your heart. Call out upon His name and take those steps to walk straight THROUGH the fire. He will protect you. When you're not sure where to go, follow His voice, and He will guide you. Stay close to him, as you're walking through this trial. Keep your eyes, mind, and heart on the Lord, always.

The fire only gets bigger the longer you take to go through it. Once you start to go through it, you're already on your way out. Trust in His perfect goodness, have faith in His perfect plan. You won't be disappointed!

[dailydevotionaldiary]

When you wake up and get ready for the day, God is with you. At breakfast, Jesus is sitting across the table from you. Working that long shift, feeling like you can barely make it through the day, God is giving you the strength to keep pushing forward.

When you're out at lunch with your friends, the Lord Jesus is laughing at your silly jokes with you. As you sing songs of praise and worship, dancing in your car, God can see you, and He's smiling.

When you remember the bills and the stress as you get home... you know that you can give all your worries to Jesus, who is always right beside you. Jesus is holding your hand as you gather the strength to figure it out.

Even when you are getting ready for bed, crying in the shower, wondering how you're going to climb over this next mountain that's in your way, even then, He is there.

And when you kneel at the foot of your bed to intentionally enter his presence, He's already there with open arms. Let His ultimate peace tuck you in at night as you fade into sleep, faithfully knowing He even holds you while you sleep. Goodnight, friends, and goodnight, my Father God.

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I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there, your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. -Psalms 139:7-10

[dailydevotionaldiary]

"Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life." -Psalms 139:24

Have you ever prayed this to God? Once I did, he began showing me things about myself that made me absolutely detest myself. The gossip? The anger? The envy? The greed? Harsh words? Bitterness? Quarreling? All of these things were oozing out of me, and all of these are offensive to God. It's pretty simple, for me, to tell the difference between right and wrong, yet I still struggle with these things all the time.

Asking God to point them out in you really starts to change you from the inside out. At the end of the day, thinking back on your actions, God convicts you of your evil behaviors.

But we don't have to live in that shame. All we have to do is tell God, "I am sorry," and turn away from those behaviors as best we can. It won't be perfect-we won't ever be without some kind of sin-but if we ask God to help us, he will give us His strength. It will give us a peaceful closeness in God's presence when we call on Him for help. Christ gives us his peace freely. We can rest fully in His gift.

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“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. - John 14:27

[dailydevotionaldiary]

The word "discipline" has a bad connotation to it. If you grew up in church, you may have heard, "Reading your Bible every day takes discipline." Or, "You have to discipline yourself in your prayer life." It sounds intimidating and difficult. When I was younger, it made me feel aspects of dread and unwanting towards God's Word. Isn't that so sad?

So, I decided to replace it with another word.

Dedication.

Dedication has a much more positive connotation to it. When I say, "Reading your Bible every day takes dedication," and, "You have to dedicate yourself to your prayer life," the meaning sounds more encouraging. Don't you agree?

I long to feel an intimate closeness with Jesus. I have been thinking and praying about how to do this. I was trying to find what sin in my life I have to remove to reach closer to God, but I realized I will never be able to pull out all my sin. I will always have some sort of sin in my life.

What I need to do in my life is to actually dedicate myself to the Lord. I need to have a strong-willed determination to kneel on my knees every morning in prayer, to have a faithful dedication to open His Word every day, and study it with a longing curiosity. I need to bring all my worries and cares before the Lord and leave them at His feet. I need to rejoice and be grateful and joyful in my spirit, remembering Jesus in all I do. THAT is how I can find closeness with God, again. What do you think?

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"And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love." - Romans 8:38

"Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world." - James 4:8

[dailydevotionaldiary]

I accidentally double booked myself. Family and friend game night was tonight, and I also promised my best friend I would have her daughter sleep over. It doesn't seem like too much adding just one kid, right? Ha! For someone who gets over stimulated, even one kid can be exhausting. We had 6 total over, which still doesn't seem like much, considering we had 7 adults.

The kids were just acting crazy. Loud, rambunctious, not listening, throwing tantrums, fighting...it was chaos at times!

Normally, I am full of stress and anxiety in this type of situation. Though lately, I've been leaning on God more than ever, and today, I had peace. Today, I had strength. Today, I found joy in the little moments. I was still able to smile, have fun, breathe, and enjoy everyone's company.

I have been working hard on changing my mindset and focusing my thoughts on Jesus. It really is such a peace in my soul to see the change.

You can do it, too. Remember to take God with you throughout the day and open your heart to feel his presence. Let us fix our thoughts on Jesus, and let's see what happens in our lives!

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"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you can not be fruitful unless you remain in me." -John 15:4

[dailydevotionaldiary]

Are you constantly stuck in negative thoughts? Irritation, impatience, anxiety, dread, shame, fear... These feelings all stem from the negative thoughts planted in your mind.

Each thought is a seed. A seed is either good, or bad. When you plant a thought in your head, that seed will start to grow into a feeling. The feelings are the roots, ripping through your mind, heart, and soul. The roots start to produce branches and leaves. These are your actions coming out. The thoughts you plant grow feelings, which produce actions. Following your actions are consequences. That is your fruit. Thoughts create feelings, and feelings cause actions, and actions have consequences, either good or bad.

Ask God to help you take every thought captive and replace it with a positive one. Lean on God, because He is all powerful, and He can do it. Turn to Jesus, and He will help you. You don't have to be stuck in those negative thoughts and feelings. You don't have to act out on them anymore. We can do better with the help of Jesus. He loves us, and He cares for us. He loves YOU.

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"Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." -Philippians 4:8

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. " -Matthew 7:7