Grace Again

Few times in my life have I heard the voice of the Lord as clearly as I did sitting in the middle of class yesterday.

It came out of the middle of a muddle of thoughts that have been running through my heart lately. Such sweet grace and relief that I literally almost starting crying in class. Which was a funny sight, let me assure you...

Taylor, daughter, when I called you I knew you would make mistakes. 

My heart literally sang to be reminded of such a simple truth

When Jesus called you to be on mission with Him, he knew you would make mistakes. And not just little mistakes, but big mistakes.

And yet He still called you.

So take a deep breath. It's okay! Just because you surprised yourself, does not mean that you surprised God. You have not ruined it all.

Only in foolishness would I allow myself to believe that I must be perfect to serve Jesus. Or that God expects me to be perfect in order to serve Him well. Hello! That is why GRACE exists!

God doesn't say to me- Taylor, if you are good enough I will use you. And if you make a mistake I will stop using you. Praise God that He does not say that to us!

Don't get me wrong. God calls us to be holy and to diligently pursue holiness. But the closer we get to holiness, the more deeply we will feel the disgust of our sin. And we cannot allow it to paralyze us! That is why we have to learn how to accept grace.

When I choose to remain frustrated by my own failures and mistakes rather than accepting the grace that Jesus is extending to me, I am not practicing humility. Instead I'm just letting my pride get in the way. 

So humble yourself before the Lord- acknowledge your need for grace and accept it with joy! And He will lift you up- up out of that pit of failure and confusion that your mistakes have tossed you in.

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up." James 4:10 

2014

I've been trying to come up with a New Years resolution all day long and it hasn't been going well. 

My list so far goes like this...

In 2014:

I will learn new things about Jesus. 

I will drink excessive amounts of coffee while sharing life with sweet friends, rushing to 8a.m.s, studying for exams, and reading the Word from my precious Savior.

I will stop hoping in my own plans and start hoping in the Lord and His promises to me

I will tell extremely cheesy jokes and laugh at them myself.

I will learn to understand grace more deeply by giving it and acknowledging my need to accept it.

I'll take more pictures and cherish precious moments with the people that I love.

I will memorize more scripture

I'll drink too much diet coke and say yes to way too many McFlurry runs with my friends

I will read more books and seek more wisdom

I will pray longer and harder

And I will dream B I G G E R

See- it's a great list. And if I do all of those things, I know I'll be a better person for it (except for maybe the McFlurry part).

But what I really want in 2014 is to see God move in my life in a way that I never have before.

So what kind of resolutions do you make to meet a goal like that? Well honestly, I don't think it will be the kind that starts with "I will..." because if I truly desire for God to move in my life this year, then I believe that it will all boil down to one thing: in 2014, it won't be about me.

It wont be about me eating healthier, learning more, reading more, or going more places- it won't be about me at all.

2014 must be about all that GOD WILL DO and not all that I will do. 

Don't get me wrong, I am still going to try to do all of the things on that list. But my focus cannot be on myself but rather on glorifying Jesus through the things that I do.

So this year, if we want to see God move in incredible ways among us, let's stop resolving to do things to make ourselves better and start focusing on glorifying God for all that He will do.

He must become greater; I must become less. John 3:30

2014 is going to be a great adventure.