Live Second: Branches

(click image to purchase book)

[this week, i'll be blogging about the new book, Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First by doug bender. big thanks to doug for the opportunity to preview this devotional and help spread the word. this is post 4 of 4.]

"no branch, no matter its strength or maturity, can survive apart from the vine. so it is with Jesus...true life, life as it was meant to be, can only be experienced when connected to Jesus."

[doug bender]

if you've walked with Jesus for any length of time, you know that daily life apart from Him is frazzled. remember, Jesus came that we may have life to the full [john 10:10]. so apart from Him, life is disconnected. we must abide in Him. and be in constant communication with Him. we must align our hearts with His.

i am the vine; you are the branches. if you remain in Me and i in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing."

[john 15:5]

apart from Him i can do nothing? but remain in Him and i will bear much fruit? yep. but how? it goes back to a heart that is in constant communication. a heart of gratitude. prayer without ceasing is possible when you find ways to be grateful throughout the day. there are blessings that come when you walk with the Lord. apart from Him, you miss out on those blessings. a grateful heart sees even the smallest things as blessings from the Lord. turn your heart to Him in gratitude.

i don't know about you, but i want the favor of the Lord on my life. i want to walk in His blessings, not struggle through life trying to do it in my own frazzled way. abide in Him. He is the vine. i am but a branch. i need Him to be my source of life and blessing.

bekah

live unashamedly :: laugh uncontrollably :: love unconditionally.

Live Second: Treasure

(click image to purchase book)

[this week, i'll be blogging about the new book, Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First by doug bender. big thanks to doug for the opportunity to preview this devotional and help spread the word. this is post 3 of 4.]

straddle the fence. one foot in, one foot out. double minded. do these describe you?

if i'm honest (which, why wouldn't i be?), i have to admit that i do the hokey pokey on a daily basis. not so much the actual dance that was oh so popular on the roller skating rink as a kid, but the one where i can't decide where my loyalties lie. i've got one foot in and one foot out. my mouth says one thing, but my hands and feet say another. my heart is divided.

"no one can serve two masters. either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. you cannot serve both God and money."

[matthew 6:24]

 i serve two masters. how do i know?

my thought life, for one. the thoughts that consume my in-between moments are not ones of gratitude for what the Lord has done. they're not prayerful. they're not eternally focused. they're trivial in comparison...the next task on the list. plans for this. details for that. need to call so-and-so after work. run this errand on lunch. you get the picture.

none of those thoughts are bad in and of themselves. but it's a problem when they consume more of my time than thoughts of scripture, God's faithfulness, God's goodness, and how I can serve others.

God isn't fooled by my weekly lip service. He knows where my true loyalty lies. i spend far more time worrying about bills, trading in my car, getting married, saving money, looking cute and trendy for work, scouring pinterest for new craft and organizing ideas. blah blah blah. trivial.

God isn't my main concern. my relationship with Him is taken for granted. other things become more thought worthy than Him and the truth of His Word. sad. but when i find myself in this place, i always go back to David's cry and echo his words...

"teach me Your way, O Lord, and i will walk in Your truth;

give me an undivided heart, that i may fear Your name."

[psalm 86:11]

give me an undivided heart that i may fear Your name. yes, Lord, yes. may the cry of my heart be, "give me, Lord, my daily bread." may i fill my mind with scripture and meditate on His goodness and faithfulness. may i cultivate a grateful heart and only serve one Master. may my thoughts be consumed by eternal treasure and not by the trinkets of this world.

bekah

live unashamedly :: laugh uncontrollably :: love unconditionally.

Live Second: Release

(click image to purchase book)

[this week, i'll be blogging about the new book, Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First by doug bender. big thanks to doug for the opportunity to preview this devotional and help spread the word. this is post 2 of 4.]

debt. forgiveness. mercy. pardoned. bitterness. entitlement. pride. humility.

let's just get this out there from the beginning. mercy....not my strong suit. definitely not the "one word" description anyone who knows me would offer. in fact, it's dead last with a big fat ZERO on every spiritual gifts test i've ever taken. i'm not joking. it's not that i don't care about you...i'm just of the mindset that, when things don't go your way, you need to put on your big girl panties and get on with life. not much sympathy here.

and i guess since we're on this honesty kick, i might as well confess that i'm also slow to forgive. i'm slow to trust, so if i trust you and then you wrong me, it's going to take me a hot southern minute to get over it and forgive you. meanwhile, some hefty seeds of bitterness have probably taken root and started to poke their little heads out of the ground. i'm not exactly proud of this, but it's the truth. so there ya have it.

i, bekah brinkley, do not show mercy and i am slow to forgive. but boy am i grateful that i have a God who does both.

now, who's with me? i know better than to think that i'm the only one that has trouble forgiving because she allows bitterness to creep in when her guard is down. however, when i catch myself in this destructive cycle of bitterness and unforgiveness, the Lord has been gracious enough to smack me in the face with the Truth. you know, the fact that He has forgiven me for far worse things than the silly ones i'm clinging to with white knuckles while standing on the soapbox of righteous indignation? yeah, that one.

"then the master called the servant in. 'you wicked servant," he said, 'i canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as i had on you?'"

[matthew 18:32-33]

forgiveness is never easy. it takes a certain level of humility because pride clings to the wound with a sense of entitlement.  forgiveness is a choice to free yourself from the bondage of bitterness and that lovely little grudge you've been faithfully nursing for far too long. forgiveness heals. it doesn't always restore the relationship (because that takes two), but it puts your heart in right relationship with the Lord again. and that's what ultimately matters. as our author pal doug eloquently said, 

"forgiveness is what lets hurts heal, relationships begin recovery, and life to move on. without it, loneliness will be our deepest friend, bitterness our home, and hurt our constant companion."

i don't know about you, but that's the life i long to lead. i nursed a bitter, entitled, and arguably justified wound for many years. and then the Lord graciously smacked me with His two by four of Truth. i was faced with the choice to forgive or to live in bitterness.

i chose forgiveness. i chose to live in grace and gratitude. i chose to forgive as He forgave me. will you do the same?

bekah

live unashamedly :: laugh uncontrollably :: love unconditionally.

Live Second: Addict

(click image to purchase book)

[this week, i'll be blogging about the new book, Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First by doug bender. big thanks to doug for the opportunity to preview this devotional and help spread the word. this is post 1 of 4.]

before i jump in, i need to say that i love how short and powerful each day's devotion is. the social guru in me also loves that hashtags and QR codes are incorporated. big score.

alright, moving on.

addict.

"i do not understand what i do. for what i want to to i do not do, but what i hate i do."

[romans 7:15]

i know better than to think that i'm the only one that wrestles with not doing the things i should and doing the things i shouldn't. it looks different for all of us, but it's the same root issue. the desires of our hearts. i often hear the advice, "follow your heart." but is that really my best option? according to my man jeremiah, it's not.

"the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. who can understand it?"

[jeremiah 17:9]

there is nothing in my heart that will lead me toward godliness and a life of joy and fulfillment. instead, it leads to destruction, dissatisfaction, and pain. as doug says, "there is something damaged and twisted in the heart of all of us, something that still rebels against God and His ways. that brokenness or twisted drive is sin." our sin is addicting, and, if we're honest, far more appealing to us at times. otherwise, we wouldn't keep going after it.

so given the fact that my heart is deceitful and i don't stand a chance on my own, my response has to be one of reckless abandon to turn my heart and my desires toward God. but it has to be intentional. it won't just kinda sorta happen one day maybe if i'm lucky accidentally. God is the only one who can lead me to rivers of joy and a life of abundance and blessing, but i have to seek Him. the life of a disciple of Christ must be consumed by the daily battle to turn your heart toward God and desire Him above all else.

the question is, what will be your addiction...the amusement of sin or the delight of God?

bekah

live unashamedly :: laugh uncontrollably :: love unconditionally.