#HappyBirthday Today we celebrate 2 years!!! It has been amazing and we have some major announcements coming in the month of December. Today we are running a sale for the day. Simply use: BDAY2 as the code! Thanks for all the support!
For His glory only,
XOXO
Danielle J.
Do you remember the first time you fell in love?
The feeling of being in love is at times difficult to put into words. The moment when you realize you are “in love” with someone it is etched in your memory. When you love someone, you put time and effort into the relationship. There is constant communication, date nights and getting to know the person. Let’s not forget the emotions that come with falling in love – passion, compassion for their thoughts and feelings, and excitement. This turns into long telephone calls of nothingness at times. Oh! I cannot forget the butterflies in the tummy. This reminds me of when I first accepted Jesus as my Lord & Savior. In those beginning stages, I was reading the Word, attending church almost every other day and praying all the time. It was as if I prayed, and my prayers were answered instantly. Things were great. I got involved in church, taught Sunday School and assisted with my youth group. I became busy in the “work” which at times came at the cost of my personal relationship and connection with Christ. Never equate “busyness” with spirituality. Your spiritual connection comes with spending time with Christ – your first true love.
In Revelation 2, there is a great depiction of those busy in the work of Christ. A letter to one of the seven churches, and this one in particular is the “Loveless Church” says the following in Revelation 2:2-3: I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. These verses give the description best – hard working, persevering, does not tolerate wickedness and knows false prophets. All of those things are awesome qualities and great “works”, however, there is one problem stated in verse 4 - Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. The love you had at first was undeniable and on fire ….. but you got busy.
What I received out of this Scripture is that we begin to fall in love with doing things and not loving on Christ (spending time with Him). Can you imagine a husband and wife living in the same house and not speaking to each other? That relationship would more than likely end in a divorce because of a lack of communication. Can you imagine if all that was said to the wife or husband was negativity? That relationship would be very rocky. It is the same with us – what you give attention to grows. Just as if I had a plant that I neglected, it would wither and die - we need to look at it the same way spiritually. Never forsake your first love.
Ensure you know which direction you are going in. It was once said to me “Direction is so much more important than speed, many are going nowhere fast”. I want to take that statement a step further and say that connection is more important than speed, achievements, and accolades, because many are going to hell fast. Knowing Christ requires intimacy and sacrifice. When you stand before Christ will he say “Well done my good and faithful servant” or “Depart from me! I never knew you”?
I challenge you to go back to your first love! Remember how “on fire” you were when you first encountered Christ. Get back to the basics!
For HIS glory only…..
May God richly bless you!
XOXO
Danielle
The title of this blog post seems very simple and easy to understand, however I feel that sometimes we forget “who we are” and “whose we are”. Let me explain.
Foundation is defined as the lowest load-bearing part of a building; an underlying basis or principle for something. As believers, our foundation is Christ. With this foundation we cannot fail, we will not be overcome by the enemy and we will rise above our trials with success. The same way a building needs a strong foundation or it will crumble, we also need the same strong foundation in our lives. Matthew 7:24 states “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock”. When Christ is your foundation, there is a difference. There is a difference in the way you interact with others, the way you deal with situations and the way you live your life. You are not easily tossed around by the beautiful struggle. You rest in Him knowing that since your foundation is Him; all things will work together for good. He has given us His Word to keep our foundation strong. The question is are you reading it, applying it and living it daily. This will keep your foundation strong. As the old hymn says “On Christ, the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand”! The story found in Scripture (Matthew 7:24-27) gives a depiction of a foolish man and a wise man. The foolish man built his house on the sand, and when the strong winds blew, rain descended, and floods came – the house fell. The wise man built his house on the rock, and when the strong winds blew, rain descended, and floods came – the house did not fall. That is the same way when the floodwaters come, the wind is blowing and we do not know whether we are coming or going in life…. Christ is the foundation, YOU WILL STAND!
Identity is defined as the fact of being who or what a person or thing is; a close similarity or affinity. We identify ourselves by many things: male vs female, tall vs short, corporate office vs entrepreneur and the list can go on and on. We identify ourselves by our race, religion, career and even relationships. The issue is, we become so wrapped up into these “identities” and allow them to categorize when our true identity is in Christ. The danger in this is we allow those things to define who we are. We let our career, salary, economic status, and relationship status define us. What if we were to lose all of those things? How would we react? Since Christ is your foundation, your identity is also in Him. So with that said. most importantly... you must reflect Him. That means the size of your home should not matter (Christ was born in a manger), you should not be overcome by trials (Christ was persecuted to the point of death), betrayal and losing relationships/friendships is part of the journey (One name: Judas). Regardless of what is going on around you – take the high road and always reflect Christ.
When things are difficult and challenging, remember where your foundation lies and where your identity is.
Stop looking at earthly things to define who you are. You are defined by Christ, and Christ ALONE!
For HIS glory only…..
May God richly bless you!
XOXO
Danielle
