#wtsdevo everydayliving

[walkthesame]

A Good Kind of Love (#wtsdevo everydayliving)

When you love someone, you just can't help but share the feeling with the people you meet. Many times, I've listened to the conversations of friends and strangers where a loved one becomes part of the topic of discussion. Just being able to hear the love and passion this person has for another is incredible! It reminds me that the world is not always a bad, broken place. Love still exists, and it's strong.

Now when people talk to me, I can't help but speak of Jesus with that same kind of passion as those who speak of loved ones in their lives. When you're in love with Jesus, you can't help but share it;  especially considering everything that He has done for us. 

When you experience something good, surely you can't hide it. The love that we share with Jesus is good. And when you experience this kind of goodness, trying to play the quiet and reserved Christian is hard to maintain!

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Devotional Series: Everyday Living (#wtsdevo everydayliving)

Posted by: Elle \ Personal // Walk the Same // Color Movement

[walkthesame]

Hope is Alive (#wtsdevo everydayliving)

Read: Romans 15:13

If there was one person who gave new meaning to the word "Hope" it surely has to be Jesus. If you are wondering how this came to be, then you need to re-visit the story of the passion of Christ and His resurrection in the Bible. By His resurrection in the midst of all hopelessness and loss, He showed us all that hope is something that can never be destroyed, removed or erased no matter the season or situation.

Hope always is alive for as long as you breathe and continue to live through your day and enter into a new one. Things may come up that may make you doubt Him and this promise, but I pray for you today that your faith will not fail and that you continue to believe against all odds.

I don't know what you may be going through right now but all I can do is pray. However God knows what you are dealing with this very moment and it is He that can intervene and bring peace and joy into your life. God is alive and He is here today and forever. What that means for all of us is that hope is here to stay.

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Devotional Series: Everyday Living (#wtsdevo everydayliving)

Posted by: Elle \ Personal // Walk the Same // Color Movement

[walkthesame]

God will come to you (#wtsdevo everydayliving)

Imagine you being stuck in the middle of a desert all alone. The chances of anyone meeting you anytime soon are slim to none. Anyone but God that is. Things work differently for God and He can come to you no matter where you are or what your situation is. In the Bible, we see God appearing to His people in places that you'd even hardly think of - a bush on top of Sinai (for Moses), on top a mountain (Elijah), in the middle of the desert (for Paul) and more.

God doesn't come any differently for you and me. God is always present and He comes to us in every moment that we need Him no matter where we are. Therefore when things are going well for you, call to God. When you are in the middle of a glum or sorrowful season, call to God. When you are up or down, call to God. When you are busy and feeling overwhelmed, call to God.

And He shall come.

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Devotional Series: Everyday Living (#wtsdevo everydayliving)

Posted by: Jude \ Personal // Walk the Same

[walkthesame]

Cling to Jesus (#wtsdevo everydayliving)

Things are changing and they are changing fast. The world isn't what it used to be. Much is expected from you and what is expected of you is expected fast. It's almost like the world hasn't given us any room whatsoever to make a mistake. Make one and you are more or less left behind. Despite all of these changes, one thing that hasn't changed is Christ Himself. And even better, no matter how many mistakes you make or the flaws you have, you are still right in the front amongst others. You are never lost or abandoned with Christ on the lead in your life.

In chaotic times such as these, Christ is the only way to escape from all of that noise into a place of peace and joy that never ends. The more you hold on to His unchanging spirit, you will find yourself more in peace and comfort. Things may shift and change but keep your eyes fixed on the One that never changes and you will find your mission and pursuit a blessed one.

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Devotional Series: Everyday Living (#wtsdevo everydayliving)

Posted by: Jude \ Personal // Walk the Same

[walkthesame]

Unstuck (#wtsdevo everydayliving)

Read: Deuteronomy 1:6-7

The temptation of remaining stuck is real and it's something that most of us gravitate towards. I myself was no stranger to this. Having gone through a breakup that just devastated me a few months ago, all I wanted to do was stay still and not move forward. Infact there were many a day when I would find myself trying to push time backwards (unsuccessfully) reading old emails, old text messages, going through old pictures and more. I constantly wished that time would just stay still and no move on forward. That way I wouldn't have to deal with the pain of heart break again. I was so tempted and so close to just living in that moment for probably the rest of my life.

But the above is probably not unique to me. I am sure most of us have experienced this in some form or another depending on the situation. The truth about this is that as much as we don't realize this, by choosing to stay stuck we are automatically allowing that situation and that moment, which took place in the past, define our present and our future as well. And that isn't really much of a good thing. We love saying to ourselves, when in these moments, that God will heal us "someday". And when we actually adopt such an attitude and outlook in life, we will continue to remain where we are with no progression and this leaves nothing good behind but more hurt, pain and emptiness.

We need to remind ourselves that God is the only one that defines our entire selves and not our situations, struggles or even our past. We were created to enjoy the blessing of freedom and to share the same joy with those around us. Yes! I know that stepping outside is scary. It was scary for me too especially being hurt the way I was, but want to know something amazing? By stepping out, I learnt so much through my experiences that I was able to engage myself in activities that involved Christian community and thereby growing in the process and becoming a better person than I used to be.

God is good and He has your back. Things are amazing when you have God in your life and the only way to experience that is by making a decision today to step forward rather than choosing to remain stuck in a past that no longer is alive and meaningful.

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Devotional Series: Everyday Living (#wtsdevo everydayliving)

Posted by: Jude \ Personal // Walk the Same

[walkthesame]

Fear has No Power over the Word (#wtsdevo everydayliving)

Read: Isaiah 41:10

The most common thing that holds people back from moving forward and achieving their dreams is fear. Ask anyone who is hesitant about something, and you'll realize that fear has something to do with it in some small way or another. You nor I are strangers to fear. Having come across this, most of us would've surely let go of some great decisions because we were simply afraid to go forward with it.

We are all created by God to be progressive beings - to improve, push on forward, to conquer. However all of this comes to a full stop when we allow fear to take over our lives. The reality about life is this - reasons will always come our way in the form of fear and these reasons will always try to stop us in our tracks. However at the same time, we all have been given a destiny, a purpose and a mission from God which we are called to spread and share across the world. God doesn't stop there, though! He has provided us with His eternal word and the Holy Spirit to guide us and to strengthen us when fear tries to get in our way. So therefore, God having provided us with a solution to actually combat fear, it is up to us to actually make the choice when it comes to what side we are going to settle for - fear or faith.

There is no doubt that most of us today struggle with fear. I myself struggle with this everyday. If you think that you are one of these people, then turn to no other other than the Word of God. It always was there and will be there for us forever. Let us choose to place our faith on Jesus alone instead of giving up to the darkness of fear.

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Devotional Series: Everyday Living (#wtsdevo everydayliving)

Posted by: Jude \ Personal // Walk the Same

[walkthesame]

Who am I? (#wtsdevo everydayliving)

How do you feel when you lose something that is important to you? Taking my own life as an example I can say that being happy is not even close to how I feel when I misplace something that is dear to me. The ones that you and I can relate to are frustration and worry which in turn can sometimes (if we aren't careful) lead to anger. The bottom line is that when you lose something you aren't happy or content.

Now imagine you losing all sense of your identity. What if you end up one day not knowing at all what your purpose is or who you even are? How would you feel then? Angry and frustrated I bet. The reason why I say this is because the same happens to us when we don't realize who we are in Christ in our Christian journey. I have encountered so many people who claim to be Christians and yet they manage to stay unhappy and discontent. When I spoke to most of them, the most common response was that they had no idea what they were doing or what to look forward to. What I also found out was that most of these people have given Jesus a very minor share of their lives to Him and therefore Jesus is more or less an obscure figure to them. Sort of like that distant aunt or uncle that you probably have in the family.

The Bible tells us that following Him only brings us true joy when it comes to every aspect of our lives. When we start feeling insecure and everything else negative in between, this should raise up a red flag in us pointing us to the fact that we have no clue as to who we are in Jesus.

However it doesn't do much to merely notice this but rather we need to realize that Jesus is our everything and all and that He completes everything in us. When you are in Christ, everything about you comes into perspective and clarity. You will never be lost and your identity will remain forever.

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Devotional Series: Everyday Living (#wtsdevo everydayliving)

Posted by: Elle \ Personal // Walk the Same // Color Movement

[walkthesame]

Hold Nothing Back (#wtsdevo christianliving)

When Christ came down for us to save us from the clutches of sin, did you notice He didn't carry out His mission by trying to hold anything back or behind? If your answer is "No" then you are correct because He didn't. The Bible narrative tells us clearly that He put literally everything down on the line just because He loved us the way He did. Nothing was held back but rather He gave us (literally) His all. Even His own life. But this sacrifice didn't just end on the cross. In reality, it made a mark and defined what Christianity and following Jesus Christ was all about.

If you didn't realize it yet, Christianity is about putting everything down on the line and to not hold anything back. It is about taking risks, going forward and doing what ever it takes to make the truth stand out there.

But we like comfort better and taking risks sound super scary. Like why even take risks when you always have the option doing things the easy way? The truth is that while convenience and ease may sound like the exact thing we need, they don't usually work right. What I mean by this is that things done out of convenience is usually temporal. They don't hold up much. If I am making a house, I have two options, I can make things easy for myself (and rather cheap too) by just stacking up some bricks and propping up a make-shift sheet that will act as my roof. Sounds easy right? But all it takes is a strong wind before this so called house of mine comes crashing down on me. But if I were to go the extra mile, build a foundation and build my house upon it, I may have shed a lot of blood, sweat and tears but at the end of the day I have a place that I can truly call home.

Holding things back, therefore will only lead you to a sticky situation in the long run whereas following Jesus with your all will only take you to the place that Christ calls Home.

Let our daily prayer be that we become more like Jesus. The moment we live to walk in His ways, we naturally become people who hold nothing back. This is what it means to be a Christian.

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Devotional Series: Everyday Living (#wtsdevo everydayliving)

Posted by: Jude \ Personal // Walk the Same