music monday// in awe

hiya lovely humans! you're welcome to another awesome week sprinkled with the favor and goodness of the Lord. you're blessed to be alive, to be breathing, to have a beating heart!

 i'm sharing a lovely song by hollyn today! it makes me stop to revel in the grace and love of Father God for me because His love is just mind blowing, it's awesome!

 enjoy the song! :)

 

via 

in awe// hollyn 

Can't speak
So close I can feel You breathe
You're so holy and worthy
You know where I've been

Can't move
So close to You I'm see through
No, not innocent like You
Oh God, I'm sorry

I'm livin' in awe
You don't need me at all
But You couldn't love me more
Ohhh

I'm livin' in awe
Every day I fall
But You never let me go
Ohhh

I'm livin' in awe, awe
Livin' in awe
Ohhh

Can't speak
So close I can feel You breathe
You're so holy and worthy
You know where I've been

Can't move
So close to You I'm see through
No, not innocent like you
Oh God, I'm sorry

I'm livin' in awe
'Cause You don't need me at all
But You couldn't love me more
Ohhh

I'm livin' in awe
And every day I fall
But You never let me go
Ohhh

I'm livin' in awe, awe
Livin' in awe
Ohhh

I'm livin' in awe of You
Livin' in awe of You

'Cause Your love is overwhelming
Your love is overwhelming
It's only You and me here
And Your love is overwhelming
Your love is overwhelming
I can barely breathe here

I'm livin' in awe

'Cause You don't need me at all
But You couldn't love me more
You couldn't love me more
You couldn't love me more
You couldn't love me more

 God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
    his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
    How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
    He’s all I’ve got left.// lamentations 3:22-24

in spite of our tendency to fall short every time as humans, the love of God is always there, always constant, always beckoning us to come back to Him, to abide with Him through constant fellowship with His Spirit. 

He could do without us but He chose to create us and fill our hearts with a void, a need for Him. And till we fill our hearts with Him nothing else will satisfy. 

the King of all the earthly kings and nations loves you. do you get that?! like, that's beyond amazing. and i know sometimes we don't believe this or fully comprehend this because of all the horrible things that happen down here on this planet in the milky way galaxy.

but God is faithful. His wisdom is foolishness to man sometimes. but really, His ways are wayyy better than ours and we need to trust Him more.

He deserves our awe, our worship no matter what mountains threaten us or try to invade our peace and steal our joy.

The God of the heavens and the earth is good, His love in the Person of Jesus is tender and tough. His Love is overwhelming, His Love is devoted and will not ever let go.

ours is to trust His wisdom and love and keep having faith in Jesus, His beloved Son, who's our Savior.

Allow His love to leave you in awe.

xoxo,

delali. 

Beautiful Acts Of Kindness

Being kind is not just an attribute of a Christian. Kindness is something every soul needs to show. First off, kindness is found naturally in love. 1 Corinthians 13:4 says “love is patient and kind, love is not jealous or boastful.” So we find that if you have the ultimate thing which is love, kindness comes naturally to you. There are times when we find ourselves in certain situations where we have to be kind to even our enemies, yes, and we know it’s the right thing to do but our carnal sides try to win us over and serve our enemies hard, cold revenge. This eats our humanity away and does us no good.

So you’re thinking, but there’s no way I’m going to be kind to that guy who lied to me and did me in or that girl who called me fat and ugly. Relax. Being kind to people who hurt you does not mean you buy them a whole gift shop or you should go knocking on their door every morning to fix them snacks and lunch in their homes(unless of course they end up being very ill and you have to be the one to help out) and neither does it mean to pass them fake, forced compliments, no. What it means is that you’re stronger enough to forgive them of those horrible things they did or said to you. It means you don’t curse (even under your breath) at them when you walk pass them on the sidewalk or when you see them at the supermarket. It means looking them in the eye and civilly exchanging greetings with them. It simply means that you are kind because God, our Father, is kind, so much to the extent that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to come and die for the sins of you and I.

“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Luke 6:35 So you see, God is kind enough to give breath to both the good and the bad guys in this world. So why won’t you be kind? Let’s also remember this verse “And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”Ephesians 4:32

As a child of this wonderfully kind Father, it’s our duty to show off all of His essence. This is sometimes not naturally easy to do but we can’t submit to our own will and live according to our desires. 2 Corinthians 5:15 says “And He died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.”

Do you see people genuinely in need of your help but you turn a blind eye to them? If yes, then that’s sadly unkind of you because sometimes God places into our hands more blessings than we need and we become the bad guys when we tightly clasp our God-given blessings in our hands and refuse to release them to bless others and show kindness. “One man gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. A liberal man will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.” Proverbs 11:24,25

“And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8  Does every good work in this verse mean to you supporting someone struggling with their tuition fees, or simply smiling at that girl who looks troubled and sits by herself all the time in the cafeteria? Then go ahead and be a blessing. Showing kindness doesn’t necessarily have to be in huge, sweeping acts but can be in the very little things... a smile, a genuine compliment, giving your seat up for that old lady on the bus who couldn’t catch a seat... No amount of little kind gestures go to waste.

I was on the bus some days ago and this woman in the seat beside me had a baby and another little girl with her. Because she couldn’t carry both children on her laps, the little girl had to stand so I decided to carry her till I got off the bus. It escaped me to even ask the permission of the young woman before carrying her little girl. I just did it. But she was so glad I helped, she even offered to pay my bus fare which I insisted she shouldn’t. Why? Because I didn’t want to feel like she was paying me for my kindness. You shouldn’t be kind with the intention of receiving some sort of reward back. Be kind and love just because.

She had a confused look momentarily cross her face when I turned down her offer to pay but she gave in after my insistent “Oh, no, I’ll pay myself.” ...So I paid my own fare. The little girl was sleepy and had her head dangling back and forth as she dozed off in the hot weather so I did what was the best to do by placing her head against my bosom. I’m very particular about not having sweaty people rubbing against me but that afternoon it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that the many beads of sweat around her head temporarily stained my silky shirt or that she was actually heavy and my thighs ached a little. (No lie.) LOL. I held her like I would my very own child, arms firmly wound around her so she wouldn’t fall from the ever swaying bus on the pothole-clad road. (The streets of Accra can be one bumpy ride, it can literally cause headache. SMH)  The Good Book says “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Hebrews 13:1,2

Let’s get something straight. I didn’t help out because I wanted to feel good about myself and neither did I do it just because I didn’t want to look bad. I helped because the tired-looking little girl needed a place to sit her little frame and have some good ol’ sleep too. And since nothing was stopping me from offering a helping hand, I stretched it out. We should be kind not because it’s something on our to-do list but because we really want to lessen someone’s discomfort and bring a smile on their face. Kindness should come from a genuine place. It shouldn’t be forced.

We should not get tired of being kind to others who don’t even appreciate our efforts. The good ol’ Bible says “And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household faith.” Galatians 6:9,10

Let’s however be cautious in offering kindness in order not to get duped by people who go about in life thinking it’s fun to take advantage of kind hearts.

Be kind to yourself of course but don’t catch the “me me me” syndrome because life is not only about you. Open your hands and heart and practice some random acts of kindness today! God sees you and He smiles down at you when you make someone smile. So go on and be a kind soul, will ya?! Surprise someone with kindness! And know that your kindness permits others to also be kind to other people, creating one beautiful chain of kindness around and within us. Let’s be sweet, kindred souls on this temporary, earthly journey on our way to eternal life.

Jesus loves you. xoxo

Delali.