Living Sacrifice

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Romans 12:1).

In some religions, the follower is asked to die in the name of their god. This is how they live out what they believe. They are asked to sacrifice themselves (or someone else). To which, there is no words – only heartache.

It is different for those who have trusted in Jesus as our Savior and Lord. When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, our new life begins. We are forever His! Christianity brings us into relationship with our God and Creator, through His Son Jesus Christ!

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We are asked to become a living sacrifice, in view of God’s mercies who through His Son Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day to give us new life. The debt we owed has been paid in full!

While some may ask their members to sacrifice themselves “for the cause,” we are urged to do something very differently. We are urged to come and follow Jesus Christ, not religion. It is a relationship with the Most High God!

It Is Done!

God’s Son Jesus Christ has accomplished the work we could never complete. He is the One who has saved us. It is not about what we could do in the name of religion, but what has been done for us! “In view of God’s mercies, offer your bodies as living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God…”

Highest Aim

Do you want to honestly please God? This is the KEY to doing so.

Give yourselves to God, through His Son Jesus Christ! Answer Jesus’ call to “come follow Me” and allow Him to make our burdens light (Matthew 11:28-30).”

Choose to live a holy life based on the Bible and keep following our Savior and King – even when temptation does come. It is where we find eternal life, freedom, and peace. When we choose to glorify God, we are seeking to please and obey Him (even when we do it imperfectly)

Holy (Set Apart) Living

Meeting with Jesus each day is an important of following Jesus. By doing so, I am placing myself in the right spiritual environment to worship Him and continually follow Him through the Bible, prayer, and fellowship with others who are following Jesus too.

Each day, we can choose to follow Him. His mercies are made new each morning. And He offers us His companionship, forgiveness, and amazing love.

There is no substitution for our relationship with Jesus Christ!

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It is choosing to trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior and King of our lives. And, this is how we will please Him.

This is the worship we can seek.

Leaving an Intentional Legacy {Inspiring Women}

Hi friends! For the months of May/June, we will be using a reading plan given to us by Sweet to the Soul Ministries. Feel free to stroll through their Facebook page and blog. They even have a journaling kit and Bible study for this month’s plan!

Whatever we do, we are urged to do it well. No half-hearted efforts. We are given the opportunity to leave a legacy, while we live as foreigners on this earth.

Whatever you do, do well, for in death, where you are going, there is no working or planning, or knowing, or understanding (Ecc. 9:10; TLB).

This Scripture is one I have never noticed before, but I have seen it in multiple places – as I have initiated my writing break. We are urged to give God our best, and to do our best while we can. All God wants to see is – our best.

What Kind of Legacy?

The legacy I want to leave behind is – a Christ-centered one. I want to make God well pleased with me, which I am given through Christ and His work on the cross. The other goal is to leave behind a life that leaves a pleasing aroma and screams –

“I live for Jesus Christ, because He is worthy.”

Such a legacy is one that will most assuredly lead others to Him with each word {spoken and written} and performed action.

The Life of Joseph

So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt (Gen. 37:28, NLT)

The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did (Gen. 39:2-3, NIV).

I am reminded of Joseph. A man with difficult circumstances, but continued to succeed in everything he did. Why did he continually succeed? He was one who sought God’s favor.

When we make our relationship with God through Jesus Christ our top priority, we will want to live a well-intentional life where we do our best. A well-intentioned life means more than half-heartedly pursuing multiple opportunities.

Doing Our Best

We are urged to do well in what we do. It doesn’t mean seizing every opportunity we are offered. There will be times, where we have to decline our opportunities – in order to give our best in what we do say “yes” to (see The Best Yes).

As women, who have been changed by Jesus Christ, we need to be intentional in how we say “yes” to opportunities. In doing so, we can be at our best. This is how we inspire others and maintain a “blessed not stressed” attitude.

Let’s become women of prayer and intentionality, because this is where God wants us to be. After all, every word and action is part of our worship!

What kind of legacy are you leaving behind?

Feature image by Jake Thacker.

In Christ,

{Summer} Psalm 124

This is where my heart has sat these past few days. While I am in the middle of preparing our home for our all-too-often apartment inspection, I had to take a few moments to write on this.

Click here to read Psalm 124. A short, but meaningful Psalm.

The Psalmist, David, points out one pondering question.

Where would we be – if it were not for the Lord?

The statement “if not for the Lord,” reminds us to take a look at what our great God has brought us through.

Although our lives are difficult, as Jesus promised us they would be, God is in the midst of it. He is working on our behalf, in unimaginable ways.

He is keeping our families safe.

He is providing many essentials in our lives.

He is giving us encouragement and an eternal hope.

He is causing our hearts to draw near to His.

. . . God is doing soo much behind the scenes, and it’s left unseen to the human eye.

When we doubt God’s protection, may we remember this passage and remember the tremendous blessing of following our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we choose to draw near and follow our Lord Jesus Christ, He will act on our behalf.

So, keep drawing near.

So, keep praying.

So, keep engaging in Bible study.

So, keep asking Him questions.

So, keep building relationships with other Christians.

So, keep trusting in Him as your priority.

So, keep worshiping our great God.

Whatever you are going through, my friend, God will have your back – as you place your trust in Him. Allow God to be your number one priority, because that’s when you will receive the most protection from God (also when you will be most aware of His protection and pray for it).

if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us, they would have swallowed us alive when their anger flared against us (Ps. 124:2-3, NIV).

If He had not been with us when the villains came for us, When their anger flamed around us, they would have swallowed us up alive! (VOICE)

Featured image by Keem Ibarra.

ANNOUCEMENT::: Summer Schedule Change

To my friends near and far –

I wanted to update you all on a decision I have made – regarding our “Inspiring Women” study as well the rest of our Summer series.

The Inspiring Women study has been amazing so far, hasn’t it?! I am absolutely loving it. God gave me exactly what I needed to hear this afternoon through this morning’s devotion on Joshua 1:9.

. . . And honestly, this is what it is about.

The Goal

This blog is about hearing God speak to us, in the midst of our circumstances. Circumstances are messy and difficult, and God wants to provide us with the encouragement and instruction we so desperately need to hear!

While our circumstances are far from pretty, at times, our holy God has saw fit to speak to us and dwell with us! Jesus Christ has come to be our Savior, and we have been given the Holy Spirt to guide us in our lives! We are not alone.

A Change in Posts

While the blog study is absolutely amazing, I am coming to realize that I need to “scale back” on some of the things I have been doing. I am discovering that I am overextending myself quite a bit.

So I propose to you a new change regarding the Summer studies {which will include the Inspiring Women series}.

From this moment on, the blog posts will be posting on a different schedule. So, when can we expect a blog post? Monday | Wednesday | Friday. Those are the days, where you can expect blog posts (with the exception of possibly this Monday). While I may post on different days, I want these to be the days where you know that there are new posts on Gracefully Overcoming.

Other than obviously doing this for physical and reprioritizing reasons, I want each blog post to be deliberate.

. . . I don’t want posts to be “thrown together” at the last minute. Instead, my hope is to keep each blog post as much of a blessing as possible.

. . . I want for us to grow with God and be able to authentically seek His face with each blog post. I don’t want any post to miss the intentionality, because I was in a hurry.

Summer Fun Ahead

I have a few ideas planned for Summer. Hopefully over time, I can share some of these mini-series with you all. Our ultimate goal is to glorify Christ and encourage one another. With each post, this is the goal and I will be as faithful to the MWF posts – as possible.

If you aren’t following this blog’s Facebook page, I invite you to do so. I have been posting regularly, to help us all keep encouraged in our spiritual walk with our Lord Jesus!

Featured image by Emma Matthews.

Until next time, my friends.

Jesus as Center Stage

Hi friends! For the month of May, we will be using a reading plan given to us by Sweet to the Soul Ministries. Feel free to stroll through their Facebook page and blog. They even have a journaling kit and Bible study for this month’s plan!

Matthew 6:33-34 is the verse for us on this first of May. This is the perfect Scripture for us to focus on – as we kick off our week.

But put God’s kingdom first. Do what he wants you to do. Then all those things will also be given to you. So don’t worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (NIRV).

Each day has its own set of worries and stresses.

We cannot worry about them. Will tomorrow be stressful? Yes. Will tonight be stressful? Most likely. But here is the bottom line: We have to place God and His Kingdom above those things. We have to place God and His Kingdom high above the concerns we have in this life.

I read a Scripture yesterday that comes to mind, so I want to share it with you all today.

So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective (Col. 3:1-2, MSG)

The truth is – we need to keep our minds focused on Jesus. When we choose to follow Jesus, we know His way is far better. His way is infinity better than any way we could concoct in our minds. Jesus Christ, the King of the world, is the One who is worthy of our focus.

And if He is telling us we don’t need to worry, then, we honestly do not need to worry. As difficult as it may be, we need to let go of the concerns of this world and deliberately choose instead to trust our great God.

I would like to draw your attention to the book of Mark – where we are given much insight. Ready for this?

The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced (4:18-19, NLT).

When we first heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it had the opportunity to radically change our lives. For many of us, Jesus has been doing an amazing work in us. But His work is cut short. Why? Because of the allure of worrying ourselves to pieces, trying to get rich now versus basking in the anticipation of Heaven’s glorious riches, and honestly – wanting other things. In our hearts, we can place other things above our desire for Jesus Christ.

We need to allow Him to take center stage. He is not the back up act, but He is the real deal!

We need to decide for ourselves if we want to fully follow Jesus Christ, enjoy the full fruit of His promises, and begin to surrender the “other stuff” to Him – trusting Him to be more than enough.

Featured image by Auré Pereira.

In Christ,