I’m about to be very transparent with you. Are you ready? I have made that a personal mission of mine, and I want you to know, that it is my desire to always be genuine in sharing my heart on this blog. That being said, I hope you read this post in its entirety. I promise, that even if you already know what I’m telling you, I think it will be worth your time.
A few weeks ago, I started to try and think of a way to profit from my blog.
I looked around and thought, “Man I am doing an awfully good job of selling other people’s stuff. Wouldn’t it be a great idea to start my own shop and sell my own boutique finds?! Then, all of this styling and marketing would benefit ME!” I quickly realized that I do not have the amount of time that would be necessary to maintain a thriving online boutique … and so… I moved on to the idea of jewelry. Hmm how does one design something small that would represent what I stand for and can be easily made, marketed and monetarily beneficial?! That idea also faded quickly. I mulled over ideas from crafts and handmade goods to clothing pieces and headbands… and I just couldn’t come up with anything.
I love to be creative. It is deeply part of me, but for some reason I just couldn’t put my finger on an idea that would lead to profit. It was like I was pushing against a brick wall.
So, I began to think about the purpose of this blog. From the beginning, I knew that I wanted to share my heart. I knew I wanted to write about clothes and styling, but I wanted to share more than that. I intended for this blog to share me. We are all looking for a point of connection, aren’t we? A way to share our thoughts and our experiences in such a way that makes us not feel so alone. Women specifically. Whether I share a point of connection through style or a moment in my life, the purpose of my ramblings has always been to be relatable… For someone to say, “I want to grab a coffee with her. She sounds like her living room is probably as messy as mine.”
I was rocking my sweet girl a few nights ago, and the house was quiet. My husband was putting my son to bed, and other than a few hushed laughs from down the hall, everything was still. My thoughts turned back to finding a point of profit, when in my heart, rather abruptly I heard the voice of the Lord say to me,
Woah. My head began to spin, and I kept replaying the words over and over in my heart.
My self-proclaimed mission of this blog is to help women gain a point of connection, to help them feel that they are not alone and to pour into their hearts something worthwhile… and my biggest concern is how I am going to profit from them?
Talk about a change of perspective. OUCH.
Why would I seek satisfaction in gaining monetarily rather than find fulfillment in freely giving the only thing I can offer that is of worth. So, the greatest gift that I can give to YOU is the one thing that will fill every void in your heart and is the only sustainable source of joy and peace.
So, here it is. The biggest Giveaway this blog has to offer – The Truth.
At the beginning of time there was God (God the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit – all equal parts of one being.) “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” Genesis 1:1-3. God creates the sky and the waters, the land, trees and plants and every living thing including man. Man was special, however… “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” Genesis 1:26 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7-9
This man was called Adam and in Adam, God saw His own goodness reflected. Think of Adam as a mirror. Every time God looks and interacts with His created being, He sees all of the wonderful things about Himself. Just as a Father looks at His son and searches to find himself in the child, God looked at Adam to see His own glory returned.
Adam had it pretty easy. He knew no separation from God’s divine love. God also created from Adam a woman whom Adam called Eve. They were of one flesh and they loved God. But, God did not create Adam and Eve to be forced to love Him. God created man with a choice.
In order for obedience to exist, there must be an opportunity for disobedience to take place. So, in the garden where God placed Adam and Eve to walk and fellowship with Him, He also placed two specific trees, – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of Life. He told Adam and Eve that they could eat freely from any tree in the garden, but that they must not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So, as long as they do not eat of that tree, they continue to show God that they will follow His commands, imitate Him and consequently prove their love to Him.
The first step away from God is always temptation.
One day, Eve was going about her business, when the great enemy of man’s soul, Satan, spoke to her out of the forbidden tree. Satan, an angel who attempted to become like God and fell from Heaven to Earth asked Eve, “Did God really say that you were not to eat the fruit from this tree?” Eve listens to the snake, doubts and eats the fruit. She then offers the fruit to her husband who also eats. Genesis 3
The moment that they ate and disobeyed God’s only command, everything changed. The mirror broke. God no longer looked at His creation and saw Himself. He saw disobedience. The fellowship between God and man would not be able to continue as it was. God would no longer look on man and see Himself but instead a distorted version of the being He had created.
So, God tells Adam and Eve that they must leave the garden. This is not as a punishment for their disobedience, but it is so that man has a chance to be restored into right relationship with God. See, there in the garden the tree of Life still existed. Should Adam and Eve have eaten from that tree after separating themselves from God, they would have been forced to live forever apart from the fellowship for which they were created.
Because of this act of “original sin,” the virus of sin has infected all of our hearts. Now, we are born alienated from our Creator and under the influence of the enemy of our soul. But… From the deepest place within the heart of every man, his soul cries out for his Creator.
We are born into a world where people do not know their true purpose. We are born into a world where the punishment for sin is death – or eternal separation from God. There is no way for us to become right with God again on our own. Think of it like a bounty. We are all sentenced to death and eternal separation from God because of the original sin that entered the world and separated all of humanity from God. There are not enough good things that we could ever do that would make up for the sinful nature that lives inside of each of us. But, it was never in the plan of God to be eternally separated from His creation. His plan has always been to be in fellowship with His creation. The only thing that will cover our sins and bring redemption is the sacrifice of blood.
God had a plan. The only thing that would restore humanity into right relationship with Him would be the shedding of innocent blood, but in a fallen world, where would he find an acceptable sacrifice? The only person able to restore us unto God, would be God Himself… and that is exactly what He intended to do. God would take our place and shed His own blood for us. How? Scripture says it this way, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not die but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
From the creation of the world, God knew that He would send his Son, to take our place so that we could come into relationship with Him again. God Almighty, Jesus, came to the earth, born as a baby so that one day He could die in our place and reconcile unto God. The fantastic part of His death was that even the grave couldn’t contain the power of God, and Jesus rose from the dead! He is alive today.
The Word of God explains that when we hear this truth and admit that we need Jesus to be our sacrifice, God doesn’t look at us and see our faults, but He sees His Son, Jesus! We can now walk and live in the relationship for which we were created through Jesus. We are sinners, but God knew this and sent His Son to die anyway.
The greatest lie of this day is that we are all okay. Whatever works to make you happy… do it. Whatever means are necessary to bring peace to your heart… pursue them. It is all pointless, friends. You will never ever be fulfilled until you encounter the Truth. Some “Christians” even live this way – because they have heard the story, but have not encountered the Truth. The good news is that you have been set free from the lies of our enemy and reconciled unto God by the sacrifice of God Himself. There is no greater fulfillment than knowing this truth! No outfit you put on or number of Facebook friends, no lake party this weekend or promotion at work, no raise in your salary or accomplishment of your child will ever fulfill the void in your heart that only God can.
He loves you! He loves you in your faults and in your weaknesses. He understands exactly what He is getting in this deal. He is not surprised by your problems or past. All that He requires is that you come to Him and tell Him that you want to be His.
The word of God puts it this way,
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
For the price of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Jesus loves you. It is true and it is powerful and if you believe it, it will change your life. If you want to discuss anything I have said here any further, please feel free to use the contact button at the top. If you are ready to say that you believe that Jesus died for you and was raised from the dead so that He could be your Lord, please please contact me. I would love to talk with you, and I would love to walk with you as you come into this new relationship with Him. That’s it folks.
I have shared the truth that God loves you and died in your place so that you could have not only a relationship with Him, but everlasting LIFE! All you have to do is believe it, and He will begin to change you.
