This month starts a twelve-month [and life-long] journey of searching for the Lord in a way I've never done before. Of pressing into Him, of praising Him, of needing Him, and of exploring His infinince as he reveals more and more of his infinite, beautiful characteristics.
I'm aching for God in a new way. This past semester I've learned some of what it's like to rely on a sovereign God because nothing else is certain. I've learned some of what it means to turn to a faithful God when I have no idea where I am. I've learned that my relationship with the Lord is the most important and the most satisfying relationship I will ever have. And with that, I've come to a point where I'm literally aching for him.
So specifically for these next twelve months I am going to prayerfully develop a theme for each month. An area that I desire to grow in, all the while seeking the Lord, coming to know him more, and relying purely on him to bring enduring change.
This month (1 - January), I am asking God to help me understand more of who I am created to be. Of what it means to be a 'daughter of the King' [like the title of this blog], of the gifts he's given me, and how he desires me to live my life because of my identity in Christ. But really, this understanding will only start from understanding who my God is. Each month, my theme will come out of the desire to get to know God better. Of learning who He is so I can learn more about myself and about his world.
I'm praying that God helps me be faithful and consistent in my pursuit of him. I'm praying that he teaches me to be humble yet bold in what I learn. I'm praying that I am continuously growing in my understanding of him. I am praying that my whole life is a pursuit of his love.
Keep your eye out for posts of what God's teaching me these twelve months. I'm expecting big things from a big God and I can't wait to share them with you!
In Him,
Alyssa Anne
1 Timothy 4:12-16
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
1 Peter 1:13-25
So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.
Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.
You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. As the Scriptures say,
“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
But the word of the Lord remains forever.”
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
But the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 18
The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit... But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.
1 Peter 4:10-11
God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.