Remembering Him

Good Morning Everyone!

I thought I would do something different today.

Today I decided to incorporate my quiet time in my blog post for various reasons: to share and be open, so you all could get creative with your times with God, and because I felt like it. Lol

I woke up this morning at 8AM.

I fixed myself some Museli Cereal and cut up some strawberries and am now sitting in my big comfy chair looking at the trees. 

I prayed in the morning for a few people that are on my heart today and really prayed for my time with God.

I will be open here: I have been prideful with God. I've realized my lack of compassion stems from my forgetfulness and pride of how much God has healed me of and how much He continues to heal me. 

I forget time and time again how He carried me through even when I wasn't seeking Him, and still continues to do so. 

"³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. ⁶ If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer" - 2 Corinthians 1:3-6

Alright God... So I know there are tons of references in the Old Testament of how many times your people turned from you and sinned because they did not remember how you took care of them, cared for them, saved them, led them, etc.... And I feel like I've done that God. I feel like I've distanced myself from You, without even realizing, with how much I forget that I needed You and still do now.

So I want to remember the things you've healed me of... The things you've carried me through, so I'm going to list them and give thanks:

1) Health- You're always taking care of me health wise. Even though I've had the flu a few times, I'm still overall a healthy individual, I've never had major health issues and I don't have to take medications and go from Doctor to Doctor. I'm so blessed for that, I don't want to take my health for granted and I know You have allowed me to be healthy and live.

2) Car Accidents- I should have died in the one I was in when I was a kid, but you spared me and my whole family. I'm grateful none of us were severely injured, it could have been so much worse God... Any of us could have been paralyzed, dead, body deformities, and you took care of us. 

3) Relationships- Father, You have led me out of toxic relationships. Relationships that were dangerous or led me far from You, somehow in someway, even before seeking You, You spared me so many times when I should have had something happen and led me to You. You used Satan's work and turned it into good and for Your glory.

4) Apartment- God, You have blessed Stephanie and I sooooo much with this lovely apartment. The view, our relationship, getting to cook and serve one another, I never thought I'd have that and I'm so grateful, because I seriously thought I was going to be homeless or commute from my parents house with the apartment before. It's an undeserved gift.

5) Deaths- God I'm grateful that I haven't had to deal with death or others that are close to me dying. Even though there have been a few deaths in the family Lord and I am sad, I still have yet to experience the sorrow and morning that comes from loosing a close friend, a parent, or a sibling. Man God, even thinking about gets me emotional. I know I will experience that someday, and I pray when that day comes I will be even stronger in You so I can face it. 

6) School- God, thank You for giving me wit and smarts, even though it takes me longer to study, I am grateful of my scholastic abilities from You and to be able to do well. I know last semester I suffered a lot and went through a lot of agony and stress in my classes. Thank You for allowing me to go a different route and change my major. It was the best thing for me God and You knew it would be too. I'm able to actually study the Bible with girls, I'm not stressed when I go to campus events because all I could ever think about was when am I going to get another chance to study, I can focus and seek the Kingdom first God... I pray now with this new blessing can come gratitude and me continuing, pressing on, and wholeheartedly seeking You and Your Kingdom first God. 

7) Major consequences of Sin- Father, you know that it was because of my pride that I didn't do a lot of common outward sin when I was in the world. Father, even though pride is so sinful and you can't do anything with a prideful person, you used my pride for good and prevented me from getting into life changing consequences that You knew I couldn't handle. However, I know that my heart was so bad and hard and only You and Your Word changed that.... Thank You for being selfless and patient.

8) Necessities of Life- God it is true that you take care of all our needs like Matthew 6 says... You have never not clothed me, fed me, housed me, loved me... You have given me an abundance and I'm grateful God I get to share and give that to others. I pray that I live life giving to others and sharing all the things You have blessed me with to show my gratitude to You. Thank You for always being a good Dad and keeping your promises.

9) Growing Up in the States- Father I'm soooo grateful I get to grow up in America and this is where I became a Disciple. God, my parents could have easily decided to stay in Cyprus, but You chose the times and places for them, and in return for me, so I could reach out and find You. In Cyprus I would have been blinded and distracted by the pageantry and traditions of Greek Orthodoxy that are not in Your Word... But Your plans are perfect, and You brought me here, to a free and for the most part, stable country, so I could worship the way You desire to be worshiped and I pray that my life still produces the spiritual and good fruit that You desire and that I know if I live my life truly the way You want me to I have and will get persecuted and rejected, but I pray that happens all the more in this country, because it's so easy to "claim" Christianity here and deceive ourselves and not truly live it... I pray I take up my cross daily God...