3.7.24 - Religious rules
Good morning ,
Confession: I wake up and the first thing I do is reach for my phone.
So this week I decided I was going to change it up. Instead of waking up, checking email and hopping on social media I decided to have some intentional prayer time.
I set an alarm for 6am to wake up and pray. I decided I would get out of bed and pray because I honestly couldn't trust myself to pray in bed. (I tried it and it's hard to focus) At 6:30 I would have another alarm go off to stop praying and start my day.
Monday went good. Tuesday, I stayed in a bed just a minute or two longer. I was tired lol.
Yesterday, when the alarm went off, truth be told I did not want to get up. I just laid there exhausted. You see parenting has me exhausted.
So I laid there feeling so guilty and tired. Emotions just running wild.
After a few minutes I got up, got out of bed and hit my knees praying. I don't even remember what I prayed because my mind was all over the place but God knew my heart.
Yesterday I realized God doesn't love me any less if I set aside 30 minutes or 25 minutes or just 5 minutes. Religion makes us feel like if we don't do XYZ then God will write us off. But that isn't true.
God knows our heart. He knows if we are actively seeking him or just going through the motions. He knows if we are going to church to check it off the list just to show our behind the following day at work. He knows all things. We can't fool him. He tells us to come as we are. He will meet us exactly where we are. He can change our heart if we allow him. Many times we just need to ask him to help us change.
After I prayed I got the kids off to school and sat at the table. I told God he needed to fix all this because I'm over it. He needed to step in and do something. Lol I know God just laughs at me because one minute I trust Him and the next minute I'm trying to make sure he doesn't miss all things I think he should be doing instead of what's actually happening.
I opened my bible and found myself in the book of John and I came across this verse. John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
My God.
I just can't thank God enough for his Word. Everything we need is in his Word. We just gotta read it and apply it.
I want to remind you that God isn't worried about the rules the world sets for Christians. You aren't a bad Christian if you didn't read your bible yesterday or pray for 30 minutes straight. God still loves you, and so do I. God is looking at your heart. He wants you to have a heart for him. So focus on that. Focus on having a heart for Jesus.
I hope this helps someone. John 14:27 certainly blessed me. Today is a new day.
I appreciate you being a part of my community. It's always more than skin care :)
If this email has helped you please share it with someone you know.
Love,
Danielle
naturallycreated4you.com
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