Growing in grace

 Hello everyone! It has been a VERY long time since I have posted on this blog forum. I have many times considered deleting it, and almost did so a few minutes ago... and then I started writing...

I have now been married for 8 years and have 3 little ones! I feel like I have grown up a lot since the beginning of my marriage, and on the other hand like I still have a lot more of growing up to do. I want to share this journey with you.

I have decided to take a break from Facebook and Instagram and rather focus my time on Bible study, prayer, personal devotion and reflections and sometimes sharing my thoughts on this blog. I will not be sharing the links on social media but will purely focus on this blog and also growing in my writing skills.

I pray you all have a lovely weekend.

Much love, Mel

2 Peter 3:18

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen."

Pleasing in Your sight

In the world it's all about success, money and happiness - and how we can attain it. We are ever striving to be successful in ourselves, to make lots money, and to have comfortable and happy lifestyles. I've recently been challenged whilst reading a book by David Platt called 'Radical' which really made me think that-

1. We shouldn't strive to be successful IF what we strive to be successful in is not pleasing in God's sight;

2. We shouldn't strive to earn lots of money IF the way we earn money doesn't please God and if the way we spend it does not please God;

3. We shouldn't chase happiness IF what gives us that happiness is not pleasing to the Lord. True joy comes from the Lord regardless of circumstances.

As the Psalmist sings in Psalm 19:14 ~ May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in the sight of the Lord.

Whatever pleases the Lord is what we should strive for.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

 

Proberbs 3:5-6 {ESV}

 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make straight your paths."

 

Trusting God isn't always as easy as it seems. Recently my husband and I had to make one of the biggest decisions that we've ever had to make as a married couple. It was definitely a trying time and learning curve for us. We discussed it for days, prayed about it together and on our own, read the Word and seeked counsel from our mentors. We did disagree on certain things at first, but I knew that  my husband is a man of God and the head of our household and that he knew what was best.

A pastor at a friend's church gave us great advice with regards to the situation we were in. He told us about the '4 C's of decision-making':

 

Conviction ~You have a conviction about something which leads you to a point where a decision needs to be made. It is vital that you pray before you do anything else.

Counsel ~ Whilst weighing up your options, it is always a good idea to seek counsel from Godly men or women.
Confirmation ~ Things will start falling into place to confirm the decision that needs to be made.

Christ glorified ~ Ultimately, the decision that is made should glorify the name of Christ.

  

We both knew that ultimately we want to do what God wants us to do and what would honour and glorify His name. We understood that it was not about us and what we wanted, but about God's will and His Kingdom. And so we prayed until we were sure where the Lord was leading us, and we made the decision. Looking back now I sometimes still have an ounce of doubt, but in those moments I hold on to the Lord and trust Him with all my heart. We can make all the plans we want in this world, but ultimately it is the will of God that prevails. Thank goodness for that, because who knows where we would end up if we all just made our decisions in life based on what we feel and want and desire for ourselves.

 

The will of God may not always be what we desire, but it should be, because His ways are higher than ours and His will is perfect. Trusting the Lord isn't always easy, but it is always worth it.

 

The greatest of these is love

One of the most well-known and loved scriptures of the Bible is 1 Corinthians 13. Most of us can quote the verses word for word. Love is patient. Love is kind... It is an incredibly beautiful and powerful passage, but so often the words are mindlessly repeated, sometimes taken for granted, and not seen for the instructions that they are.