Hello, I’m January
Inspiration and thoughts on God and faith, written by a simple human, navigating life through the messy and sometimes chaotic.
-
That One Verse
It very well could be one of the first verses you memorized. Perhaps it is the verse you have heard recited the most often in church services. It is certainly probably one of the most widely quoted, even written in paint under the eyes of football players. You are likely saying it to yourself at this very moment.
He (God) gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16. NLT
It makes complete sense to start this journey of love with this verse. Why?
From the beginning God displayed himself as a loving God. He fashioned creation with the work of His hands, and he didn’t make the world evil. He made the world “good,” until we messed up. And it has always been His desire to make this right. God doesn’t desire that we be anything but “good,” as He originally intended. Even throughout the Old Testament displays of His love and faithfulness abound, despite the continued rejection of God for false idols and things of the world.
God’s sacrifice of His own son was completed out of profound love for His people, and a desire to place us into right position with Him again. God loves us too much to let us die to our sins. To watch us perish, and He offered a sacrifice of His One and Only so we could all be provided with the acceptance of this position.
I am not sure I have known a greater love than that. One that would pour out everything. Give everything. Sacrifice everything so someone else could be let off the hook. So someone else could walk free.
But that is exactly what He did for us.
And we get to show our love to Him. How? While the verse suggests a “belief” this is only a start. Those that came before believed and still walked in utter darkness. God desires that we follow the ways of His Son. That we not only simply believe in His sacrifice of love, but that we grow to be like Him, and that we show His love to others, as well. So that others can come to know, believe in this love, and accept this love, too.
Today begins the God is Love Bible Reading plan for February. If you want to join me, you only need the printable linked below, and a Bible or Bible app.
You can also subscribe via email to ensure you don’t miss the daily devotional to be posted along with each day’s Scripture.
Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Praying for Others
I am worn out waiting for your rescue, but I have put my hope in your word. My eyes are straining to see your promises come true. When will you comfort me? Psalm 119: 82,82, NLT
I have been breaking Psalm 119 apart as I read through it, and these were the two verses in the particular section I read that got to me the most-prayer. I started to think about prayer. Especially the part of this process that can be heartbreaking. Painful. Wear you out.
You pray and you don’t see change. You pray and you don’t see evidence that God is moving. You pray and people continue in their ways. It makes you just want to stop. And that is what I had been thinking about all morning…why had He allowed me to pray for others for so long, placed people on my heart over and over, only to change nothing.
And then He gave me an email. An email I subscribe to with the following subject: “Intercessory Prayer.” The Greek translation for intercession is “to pray or intercede for, or petition on behalf of.” As God’s children, those who have accepted His grace, well…He has given us this authority to do this for others. For those who need this grace, too. We become the pathway for others to see Christ.
But this is what often happens with me.
I forget who truly holds the power. I pray and think this powerful connection to intercede for someone means “I” am the one who is mighty to save. Then I become discouraged when the saving doesn’t happen. When the change doesn’t occur the way I want it to.
Here’s the deal:
Yes, we do have an immense power given to us through the Holy Spirit. We have a connection to the Father through Jesus, and when someone we care for needs grace, we can pray and activate God’s power. But we are not responsible for all that occurs after that.
We pray. Then God nudges. He speaks. He sends His Word. They can either answer, or reject Him. That’s not on us. That’s between them and God.
What do we do? We? We just pray. Then we let God handle the rest.
-
On a Journey to Real Love
When we finally begin to see God the way He truly sees us-with nothing but love; we begin to focus on old dreams and visions we let die with the opinions of the world around us. I documented the year long journey God took me to seek and find His true love for me (here and here). A love I thought I knew, but didn’t really.
I learned this: For so long I played small. I had allowed the voices of the world to dim my light, my gifts, and my purpose. I lowered my “posture,” stayed in corners because I believed I was too much of “something” to be used, when all along He had placed all the things I needed to do the things He desired in me. I just needed to look for them without the voices adding a bunch of noise.
And from that learning of His love over again, I became bolder to do new things. I stopped thinking about the opinions of others, and walked with Him in mind. I started looking at myself as God looked at me, not as the people around me did.
And I am all the better for it. Healthier. Stronger. More free.
And you can be, too.
Here is one of those things I will not shy away from doing. Crouch in a corner until someone else tells me it’s time or it’s OK. Or that I am even worthy.
Reading the Bible each morning is an important portion of my day. I can tell when I haven’t. When I have neglected this in my morning. And there are so many who don’t understand the Bible, or continue to come up with reasons to not open it up to enjoy all the beautiful things it has to say.
It is a love letter from God. One you may never get from a living being in your life, but one you need to feel the love you so crave here on earth.
I want to help you. I want to help you make it a daily practice, even if it is just one verse. And I want you to discover the true love that only comes from ONE. It doesn’t come from the voices or opinions of others. It isn’t found during a certain month, and it doesn’t inhabit a single day in February.
It is freely given by the One who created you, and who desires that you know His love and feel loved.
February begins a monthly journey through the Bible with me, with a focus on what God says about love. The kind of love the world often gets wrong. Each day you will find both a blog post on what God is speaking to me through each verse, and a word on His love.
Was your desire to start reading the Bible daily this year, and you still haven’t? Well, this is your chance. Download the scripture calendar below, and start now! It’s never too late to learn about, feel, and accept real love!
-
Can You Handle the Truth?
Test me Lord, and try me; examine my heart and mind. For your faithful love guides me, and I live by your truth. Psalm 26:2-3
Here is a question: Do we truly want God to examine our hearts? Our minds? To place before us all the practices, actions, and thoughts demonstrating that we are often moved by our desires and carnal nature?
Wanting this, and asking God to do this for us, is in fact what being a “person after God’s heart” looks like. It is asking Him to examine what is within us, and to allow Him to cleanse anything that doesn’t resemble Him from the inside out. We desire for Him to change our mindset, our actions, and our desires.
This seems so appealing, right? Then why don’t more people want this transformation? If the Word says-“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32), then why don’t more seek His truth? Want this freedom?
Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:43-44, NLT
Seems harsh and blunt, but I didn’t say it-Jesus did. He was keeping it pretty real here. The truth doesn’t sound pleasant when we want to continue in ways that reflect dishonesty. When we want to continue to chase after the things the devil tells us makes us worthy, successful, loved, and admired. When he feeds us with the notion that the world can provide all we need. Doing the right thing doesn’t seem so appealing, when the wrong thing feels just fine. And well, who is getting hurt, right?
The truth sounds ridiculous because the lie is more appealing. The truth sounds boring because the lie is more fun. The truth offers blessings that cannot be measured, and that you have to wait for; while the lie offers instant gratification, and goods we can enjoy to our hearts content right now.
Even if our hearts are still empty. Unloving. Deceitful. And still feeling worthless, despite the false bill of goods Satan has promised. The lie sounds much more like truth when you are still in the dark.
Asking God to examine the junk that is in our hearts and minds; those things that don’t reflect His truth and goodness will hurt, and we will go through some struggles during the transforming. Who wants to struggle?
But-He assures us that the other side is beautiful: And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 1 Peter 5:10
And it’s all worth it, if you can handle His truth.
-
Celebrate the Old You
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17
I sat at my desk looking outside at the snow, just beginning to melt off the railings. The ice that we had not yet shoveled off the steps for the mail carrier’s trek up them. At the flag that waved in the breeze. The flag with its holes, rips, and tears that I had not noticed before. Worn out by wind, weather, and all the beatings it had taken flying outside my front porch. Torn and tattered from the storms of its past.
Yet when many of us look at the flag, we celebrate its rips, and its tears. The twists. The turns. The places it has gone. The storms that have ripped it to shreds. We glorify it.
But people? We pick those rips and tears apart. We use them to somehow discount how far they have come from the storms and trials that created those scars. We may even see a new creation, and continue to look underneath for the proof that a tear still exists.
Here’s the deal:
Those rips. Those tears. The past that left scars and marks of shame and regret, people from our past may still live there. And they may still see them somewhere in the back of their mind. But, when we accept Christ, he makes us new. That old person, the person others still want to see, it doesn’t exist anymore. That past doesn’t define us. Those scars may still be there, but they only exist as part of testimony that shows beauty lives there among brokenness. It is only a part of our story, but not the chapter we live in any longer.
And I’ll testify of the battles you’ve won/How you were my portion when there wasn’t enough/I’ll sing a song of the seas that we crossed/The waters you parted/The waves that I walked. -Maverick City Music
Those battles and trials. Those scars tell a story of a redeeming God. A God who cleans up messes and makes things new. Who wins those battles. Who fills all those tears and holes. Who sees only beauty when everyone can only see ashes.
So light a match. Burn those memories from the past. Get up and dance if you want, while you stomp out all those voices that remind you of your stinky, torn, and rotten past. Because that old you…it tells a story, yes it does. But the new you tells one of an amazing God! That’s something to celebrate!
I do not own rights to music, video, or lyrics.
About Me
I am January! Wife, mother, meemaw, pastor, and mental health provider who makes it through the day with my coffee, my journal, and my God; and I am also on some days a hot mess. A simple human, navigating life through the messy and sometimes chaotic.
Follow Me On
Subscribe To My Newsletter
Subscribe for new posts, inspiration and exclusive content straight to your in-box.
Grace N Grounds 