Living to please the Lord

Hello darlings!

Are you living a life that is pleasing to God? Or are you living to please others and fit in with the crowd?

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. ~ Galatians 1:10 ESV

If you're like me, maybe you answered yes to both questions. Maybe you have good intentions of living a godly lifestyle but still lack total commitment and surrender to Him.
It is hard to live in a way that is pleasing to the Lord, especially when there are so many influences in our culture that tell us to do otherwise.

We might intend to dress modestly, but are told by clothing brands and advertisements that that is simply not attractive.
We might have the desire to spend time in God's Word, but our culture says that it is much better to relax and watch a movie instead.

I speak to myself when I say that I think we need to redirect our goals from pleasing the world to pleasing our loving Father.

Living to please others is a very futile goal. The truth that I think most of us know is that you can never please everyone.
Not everyone will like the way you dress, not everyone will be passionate about the things you are passionate about, not everyone will agree with you about everything, not everyone will like you.
We cannot rely on the opinions of others because they will always be different, varied and sometimes we simply do not know what people are thinking.

But what we can rely on is what God thinks of us. His thoughts about us, his creation, are recorded for us to read in the Bible.
God will not forsake you, He cares for you, He loves you more than anyone else ever could, He gives us grace and mercy when we make mistakes.
While we may not always know what others think of us, we can be assured of what our Father in heaven thinks of us.

And that is all that matters. We are on this earth solely to give glory and honour to Him. Our purpose in life is to live for Him and make him known among the nations. To pour out His love to everyone around us just as He did on the cross for us.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. ~ Colossians 3:23-24

To close this off, I do believe that when a young woman (or a guy), lives his or her life out in a way that is pleasing to the Lord, it will show and even cause others to be drawn to you. The love that God will show people through you is attractive(not in a romantic way, although it can be)!
So in the end you may get new friends, get noticed by others or even attract a great godly guy, but all of this is only and added bonus(if you will) to truly living for Jesus and focusing on Him to satisfy and fulfil you.

When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. ~ Proverbs 16:7

Make drawing closer to the Lord, serving Him and loving others some of your main priorities in life and other good things may come out of that.
The Lord bestows blessings upon those who demonstrate full surrender and obedience in their lives.

I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. ~ Psalm 40:8

Recommendation: Listen to THIS podcast episode by Revive Our Hearts called 'How You Can Truly Please God' to help you learn more about this topic!

This is just something I was pondering last night and sat up to quickly jot down!
I hope and pray that it blesses you and that together we will be renewed by the transforming of our minds as we behold the face of Jesus daily and become more like Him every day. (Romans 12:2)


keep blooming,

Hannah

Lies you are probably believing

(Collab with Audrey from The Road 2 Wherever)

Before I start, I just want to introduce you to a friend of mine. Audrey, blogger @ The Road 2 Wherever, and I are collaborating together to give you some thoughts and encouragement on fighting lies you are most likely believing and what we did to fight ours.

I met Audrey through Coffee and Bible Time's new bible study called Uprooting Lies Planting Truth.

Audrey, along with two other girls, and I were accountability partners for this bible study.

More info on the bible study later!

Here's a list of lies I tackled during this journey and the Bible verses that combated them:

1. I am not beautiful. (Proverbs 31:30, Psalm 139:14, 1 Peter 3:3-4, Ephesians 2:10)
2. God doesn't give us more than we can handle. (James 1:3-4, 1 Cor 1:4-8) Plus some great advice from a dear friend, who said, "God never allows us to go through anything that is bigger than the grace he gives us to handle it. In everything, we are enriched by Him. By believing God won't give us more than we can handle, we are totally eliminating our need for Him."
3. God alone can't satisfy me. (Phil 4:19, Psalm 90:14, Isaiah 58:11)
4. My value lies in how I look. (Proverbs 3:15)
5. My true happiness will only be fulfilled when I get married. (Matthew 5:6) ((getting married is one of my biggest dreams.))
6.  God should fix my problems. (Phil 3:10-11, 2 Tim 3:12, Luke 14:27)

Some of those are pretty harsh but I being honest here. These are things I was struggling with and some I still struggle with.

This is a list of common lies a lot of people(girls) believe:

1. You are not good enough.
2. You must earn God's love.
3. You are not beautiful.
4. God is so far away.
5. I can't overcome my sin.
6. I am worthless.
7. It's my life.
8. God causes suffering.
9. God is not good.
10. I am alone.....the list goes on!

So, are you believing some lies? You may believe some lies and you don't even realize it. The Deceiver is very sneaky and cunning in his ways. He whispers lies at you everywhere you turn. BUT, did you know that you most likely have the most powerful weapon right under your nose? Yes, the Bible and God himself!
The Bible is our weapon. It is our sword!

Ephesians 6:11-17

" Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. "

Hebrews 4:12

" For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than a double-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

If at any time you are believing a lie, doubting something or anytime at all, turn to the Bible.
In God's word, you will find the truth, you will find peace, satisfaction, and fulfillment. You will have the power to stand against the things the Satan throws at you and not be swayed by the winds of the world.


Now, do you want to fight the lies you believe? Aside from God's word, here are a few other things that might help:

Coffee & Bible Time's Uprooting Lies Planting Truth Journal and info
Lies Young Women Believe Book by Nancy Leigh DeMoss Wolgemuth
Lies Young Women Believe Blog

Uprooting Lies Planting Truth Journal Trailer

The main lie that I uprooted was the lie that God doesn't give us more than we can handle(in relation to trials). I am free from this lie and I have accepted that God allows trials to grow us and further His kingdom.

James 1:12-15 really opened my eyes and helped me too.

Make sure you check out Audrey's post and comment down below whether you are going to try this out and fight the lies you believe!

xoxo

Hannah

GRACE.

I just had to share this quote! Sometimes words like grace are misunderstood or we don't have the best description of what it really means. When I heard this quote, I wrote it down quick smart.
It sums up grace is a sentence! Grace, amazing grace, beautiful grace, wonderful grace, sweet GRACE.

In a dictionary it is described as so (in the context I am talking about):

1. a manifestation of favour, especially by a superior
2. mercy; clemency; pardon

There is also the kind of graceful mannerism. Politeness and such. But that is not what we are talking about now. No. I am talking about the grace God gives. The grace that offers forgiveness. Because we are not perfect, we mess up, we do terrible, unforgivable thing, but He still gives us grace upon grace.

Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Acts 14:3 Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

1 Timothy 1:14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

I hope you liked that and that it gave you a new perspective and understanding of this amazing thing, grace.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:2

A Disscusion about Thomas Barrow

I have been hesitant to write about this topic but I have many thoughts in the matter and had to share them with someone.
First, I will introduce Thomas Barrow to those of you who are less acquainted with him.

A pretty classic pose for Thomas

Thomas Barrow starts as a footman and works his way up to being butler at Downton Abbey. It seems he enjoys making people unhappy and in constantly getting into people's business. He smokes far too much for his own good. One other important fact about him, is that he is gay. It is this fact that prompted me to write this post.

So now you know a bit about him I will say that he doesn't stay all mean and heartless. In the last few seasons of the show, we do see some change in his behaviour towards others. He becomes kinder, more sensitive to others feelings, and more helpful.

I do not agree at all with his affections towards other men. I find it very gross and disturbing. However because of this downfall I do not think we should just dismiss him as a horrible person and stop at that.
Thomas is a person who has problems and could if he put his mind to it stop doing it. I thought it would have been good if there was a woman who maybe was in love with him and maybe it would help him. You know what I mean?
If someone 'showed' Thomas what a real relationship was like, I feel that would have made a difference.

Towards the end we see him very disturbed, so much so he nearly kills himself. I think he his confused and needs people to care for him.
I love the scenes with Thomas and George, I think they are so cute.

I did feel quite sorry for him in the end. Because of his meanness, there were very few people who liked him or trusted him and so he had few friends. But as they were somewhat kind to him despite the way he had treated them,he showed a change of heart.

I always like to look for the good in people and there is good in Thomas Barrow. Normally everyone has some good in them. Sometimes it just stays hidden.

So I suppose my conclusion is that I don't hate gays like Thomas Barrow (even though he's not a real person), I just hate what they believe and do.
As Christians we are commanded to love everyone, not with the exception of gay people.

Ways to get into Bible Reading / Up your Bible Reading game!

So a while ago I was really struggling with reading the my Bible.
I knew it was important in my walk with God but I just didn't know how to approach it.
What should I read? When should I read it? For how long? Will I understand it? Do I have time for it?
All these questions were circling through my head and I knew I had to pray about it.
This was around the same time I attended the Christian conference I talked about in this post.
The conference gave me a lot to think about and it helped a lot but I still didn't quite get the boost I needed.
Then I found Coffee & Bible Time. A channel on Youtube that is run by sisters, Ashley and Taylor Krause. Their videos encouraged me a lot to go a start reading my Bible more. Once that got me started I became filled with this wonderful urge to read it more and more. That was truly an answer to my prayer(s). Not only did I want to read it  but I also understood it well.
It was a few days before I realised this was God answering my prayer and when I realised I was so happy!

So since I know the struggle I thought I would write this post to hopefully help any of you who are experiencing the same thing.

1. Pray about it
This is the number one thing to do because ultimately only God can help you.


2. Find some inspiration
For me this came from Ashley and Taylor's channel and my wonderfully inspiring Christian friends.
It can come form anyone or anything, a Bible verse, a sermon, friends, songs and people.

3. Get a journal
A journal will help you because while you read the Bible you will be able to write notes, thoughts and do art in your journal and these things will help you to understand thing more and think about what you read. You can also get really creative if you're that kind of person. Like me!


4. Use a devo book
Devotional books can be a great way to start getting into your Bible. Even if you are great at reading your Bible, a devo is sometimes nice to use in your quiet time.

5. Drink some coffee or tea
It goes well with Bible reading!

6. Don't feel like you have to read heaps
You don't have to read 4 chapters, it can just be a few verses. As long as you read some! You may start reading. intending to read a only few verses, and suddenly find you finished the chapter.

7. Prioritise it
When you wake up, instead of going on your phone or reading a book, grab your notebook and your Bible and read that first.

8. Open your quiet time by singing & praising to God
Speak O Lord, 10,000 Reasons, and Lord I lift your Name on High are great ones to use.




So those are things I do/use personally and they help me so they might help you too!

What do you love about the Bible?
What has God been teaching you lately?

God's Goodness

Good 
morally excellent; virtuous; righteous; pious

God is good. But not just any kind of goodness.
He is always good.
His goodness is perfect.
We can never be that kind of good. We are bad sometimes and make mistakes, we have sin.
So because He is so good we have many reasons to glorify Him.
He is worthy of being praised and honoured.
It is the least we can do after all he has done for us. He tells us to glorify him but not in a selfish proud way as you might think. I mean like I just said, we should want to and there are many reasons why we should.
Reasons like: He is worthy, He made everything, He gives us life, He loves us etc.
So if we acknowledge this we will/should want to glorify Him. Love Him with all our heart, mind and strength.
For example loving Him with our minds means getting rid of thoughts that don't honour Him, that don't glorify Him, and replacing them with things that do.

That might not be easy.

But let me ask you this...

How much are you willing to do for the glory of the Almighty God?