Eyes of Clarity

Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.” The Lord brings salvation to all those who call upon Him with honest sincerity. Following honest sincerity in receiving salvation is death to self, a ritual that must take place daily to have true freedom in Christ. Death to self is the most challenging part of being a Christian because we want our way, always. We want to look at that handsome man down the street because five minutes of admiration in the moment does not seem as though it will matter, but when five minutes pass by and admiration becomes lust, we find ourselves wondering how we ever let our thoughts travel there. Or, we think we can handle one more drink at the bar but when one more drink becomes three more drinks and we lose control of ourselves, we wonder the next morning why we let ourselves come to the point of...

Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” There really is no rainbow without rain but when the rainbow shines through the clouds, the rain is oftentimes worth the wet puddles it leaves behind. Similarly, everyone wants growth but they do not want to go through the trials in life that cause it. I know that to have growth I must endure the predominant suffering because how can I expect to grow if my circumstances remain the same? But, I must not fear for as Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” There is absolutely nothing in this life that I will walk through that the Lord has not orchestrated for my good and His glory. Reading through IBS writings from January through last week is absolutely mind blowing as I am able to see the questions and prayers that have been answered as well as my general growth in my relationship with the Lord. What an absolute blessing to ...

Psalms 51:6 “Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.” The Lord desires nothing more than to have a personal relationship with us. He desires honesty, even when honesty seems impossible. However, it is in this honesty and truth that we are able to experience growth through the only One who is able to provide it. Behind honest with God hurts. Being broken hurts. But God knows what He is doing and even in the midst of what seems like the most difficult trials we are facing, He is in control. What we hold in our hearts will always come to surface, but how it is dealt with when it is surfaced is entirely up to us.So do you want your way or the better way? No one ever said life as a Christian would be easy, in fact, this past week has brought me to terms with the fact that it is everything but. The Lord has asked me to surrender an aspect of my life that I have been struggling with for some time now. Being in Uganda is an opp...

Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” We, as humans, tend to plan out our entire life without thinking twice that our life is not ours to plan. Never would I have thought that right now, I would be looking out at beautiful Lake Victoria on a small island in Uganda, Africa with eleven people I have never met before January. According to my plan, I would be sitting in a classroom at Lawrence Memorial Regional Hospital studying to become a nurse, but God is sovereign. Whether it is a career, drug, or relationship, distractions are how the enemy is able to keep me from the ams of the One who wants to give me the desires of my heart if only I would surrender them to Him. But oftentimes, I do not want to surrender because I think I can outdo God’s best. Then, when something so seemingly perfect does not work out, I question His promises when in the back of my mind I already know that He has asked me to wait. Therefore, I must heed the instruction H...

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” People will always disappoint us. It does not matter our relationship or our position, our world is so terribly fallen that we as people are bound to fail one another. This does not give us the right to disregard them because in the moment of disappointment we oftentimes forget that we have been on the giving side also. Uganda has allowed me to realize that my teammates are not perfect and that ministry truly does start in the home. It is so easy to walk away from conflict and allow bitterness to harbor in our hearts but let us not forget that what we hide in our hearts will soon be revealed through our actions. In turn, our relationship with the Lord suffers and our hearts become hardened towards those around us. Christ has called us to love others the way He has loved us and when we allow the pride of ...

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.” It is amazing the change we encounter when we bathe ourselves in the Word of God. We begin to have a mind like Christ and the thoughts we once had begin to fade into the nothingness they always were. Once we are cleansed by His blood, we are no longer indebted to our thoughts of condemnation, of evil, or of impurity, but we are set free. However, it is one thing to say something, another thing to apply it and especially when it comes to our thought process, this can take an ample amount of time to alter. Thoughts are the most difficult to control because the mind is so unbelievably sophisticated and it tends to wander when our guard is down, which is usually 99.9% of the time in which we are awake. Though we might not want to think about a certain as...

Proverbs 12:1 “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” To love instruction is to appreciate knowing the difference between how to succeed and how to fail. Of course, as fallen people we fail everyday, but to have been told blatant instruction, choose to do the opposite, and rebel against the rebuke that follows is, how Proverbs 12:1 puts it, “stupid.” Sometimes our pride causes difficulty in listening to the instruction of others simply because we feel that there is no better way than our own. Then, when we find ourselves being corrected for not following the instruction given to us, we become angry. Most often times, if the Lord is not speaking directly to us through His Word, He places specific people in our lives to give us instruction for our own benefit so that we may grow in wisdom and knowledge. When we do not listen, we are actively ignoring the instruction of the Almighty authority since He is who placed the instruction for us to...