Open the Eyes of Our Hearts, Lord

I decided to participate in my first #fmfparty blog post! If you do not know what that is, go check out Five Minute Friday here!

So, the word for this week is "open." When I think open, the song "Open The Eyes of My Heart, Lord" comes to my mind immediately. I sung it often in church in children's choir growing up. But, the lyrics still ring true today.

We need to let God open our hearts up to His plan for our life. We need to allow his glory to unfold in our lives, and there is no way for this to happen if we are closed off from him, trying to hide our sins and insecurities. He sees our hearts. He knows our inmost thoughts.

Openness is also important in our relationships with others. We must be open and willing to share Jesus with them. We cannot put up a false front and expect them to see the love inside of us. Jesus was real. He was open with others and God. People can come to know God through our broken, sinful lives.

Lord, I pray that you would open the eyes of our hearts today. We want to see you, God. Oh, how we want to see you. Please help us to be open to receiving your will for our lives and open in our relationships with others. In Jesus name, Amen.

Do You Want To Be My Friend?

I wanted to share this devotional I wrote for church with you all. I hope it can be of some encouragement to you today! It is based on John 15:12-27! So you can read that first, or just start reading the devotion below!

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.” (John 15:12-14) This is one of my favorite verses because Jesus says we get to be His friend! Isn’t that exciting?! I LOVE that I can be considered friends with Jesus! All we must do is love Him and love others, and He will consider us His friends!

Jesus continues in verse sixteen, where He tells us that we are to bear fruit. Bearing fruit is so important in our Christian walk, and we can do that by being joyful, loving, peaceful, patient, and kind to others. He also says in verse sixteen that if we bear fruit, whatever we ask in His name will be given to us by the Father. God wants us to be happy. He wants to provide for us. However, the catch here is that we must ask in His name. That means God will fulfill our wishes if they align with His plan for us. There are always things that we ask for and pray desperately for, and God might not answer how we want, but it usually ends up working out for the good. I have prayed for things that I am so glad God did not give me because it turned out much better His way.

Jesus continues by saying, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19) As a teenage girl, I get hung up on this issue a lot. I want everyone to like me. I honestly cannot stand it when someone does not like me. I feel like I need to make amends even though I have done nothing to make them dislike me. I am still learning to accept that the world might hate me for loving Jesus – for standing out and sticking up for what is right. Many in the world hate Christians because our values differ from theirs. Since we do not cooperate with the world by joining in its sin, we are living accusations against the world’s morality. However, there is nothing wrong with this.  As Christ followers – as friends of Jesus – people are not always going to love us, but we must not stop showing them love.  

Father,

Thank you for the beautiful life that you have given each of us. Help us today to stand firm and courageous in our faith and to live steadfast in oneness with you. We want our lives to be a passionate pursuit of your glory and love. Please help us to bear fruit in a fruitless world and to show love to those who hate. Please fill us with your Spirit.

                                                                                    In Jesus name we pray, Amen.