Transformations

When I first made this blog, I wanted to have a variety of posts. Then, I got focused on devotions. Last year, I made no posts because I could not seem to find the time to post devotions and such. How could I when I was relearning how to study the Bible? Now, my time here at Geneva is almost complete. I find myself in a place of hard changes and extreme acts of Faith. I think that I got so torn between trying to share the Word and also share my miscellaneous thoughts that I have come up with some devotions that are not the best or I simply wouldn't post anything. Well, this is all about to change. I have gone through quite the year of transformation. It has been a time of coming to a fuller understanding of God and therefore a fuller understanding of myself. So, this lesson I want to focus on transformation. I think this is something that I might have written on before but I want to tell some of my thoughts and I want you to comment yours. If a verse comes to mind, bring it up! Let's share what we've learned and maybe somebody reading will gain something that they have not gained before. This is the transformation of this blog. Lesson 1 for 2020: This is more of a thought than a lesson but I want to know what you think. Transformation is not fast. It is slow and in the form of spiritual growth. What is this spiritual growth? Picture yourself as an infant on one side of the room and God is on the other. Keep in mind that this is a symbolic picture. As an infant in Faith you don't know how to get closer to God. Someone has to carry you. Unfortunately many people stay in this infant like faith. I believe there is a verse with a similar thought. Do you know it? How long will we be bottle fed? But if we allow ourselves to grow in the faith we will soon be able to crawl over to God. The further we get in our spiritual growth, the more natural it becomes for us to reach out to God. But just as obstacles can be in our way when travelling from one side of the room to another, such as Legos, we find obstacles to our spiritual growth. When I was younger, I struggled with depression. Recently, I have noticed it trying to come back. When I was younger, I did not reach out to God as naturally as I do now. This does not mean it is easier. This struggle is still a deep struggle. However, it doesn't take me quite so long to get from one side of the room to the other. I might have the same moment of despair but I'm better at fighting it with the truth. Extra Credit: This section is just some extra thoughts that might or might not be related to the topic. Today they are just some truths that use to fight despair when I find it coming upon me. God is with me God loves me I place my hope in God God calls me worthy God hears me God knows me The first thing I do is pray. I oray for God's help, peace, hope, and more recently joy. Joy is a great defense to so many things. I won't go into it because I think I will do a post on it. But hope is the opposite of despair. Despair is filled with hopelessness. It is a very dark place which I'm sure we all face at one time or another. We have to fight it with our hope that we have in Christ. Anyone have some verses on hope in Christ? Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to read these thoughts which have been heavy on my mind these past few weeks. I would like to give a shout out to my friend and roommate April for our conversation which led me to thinking of the room symbolism and unwittingly reviving my desire to post to this blog. News flash: I will hopefully be updating the site this weekend but it may take a month or so to finalize everything. We'll see.