The Place Called Home

This month marks the first anniversary of this blog! 

That’s crazy to think I’ve already been here for a whole year, getting to share with you what God has been sharing with me. It’s been so interesting to see where He takes us each month. I still don’t feel qualified, but I love that I get the opportunity to do this and I hope it’s blessed anyone else as much as it’s blessing me. 

This month, I feel Him pressing on me to focus back on Him again, more than anything else. To really open up with Him. 

I’m coming close to finishing my first draft of my first novel and (surprise) launching an online store with this blog. I have a lot running through my mind lately, but I can feel Him pulling me back towards Himself. Nudging me. Not forcing His way through or anything, but gentle reminders of where I need to be. Where my heart needs to be. 

So this month’s conversation is going to be a bit of a reset. 

What’s most important? 

There are a few verses that have stood out to me in my Bible reading lately. 

Psalm 42:8 says “By day the Lord commands His steadfast love, and at night His song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.” 

Nehemiah 8 details Nehemiah’s reading of God’s law to His people. They’d moved away from the Lord and they realized it when they heard His word. Verse 10 encourages the people to not despair in their sin, “for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” He tells them not to be stuck in the grief of failure, but to rejoice in the opportunity to do better. To find joy in pleasing God. To find strength and motivation in doing His will, in keeping His word. 

The two ideas that have really resonated with me from these verses, and throughout the rest of my reading too, are that my life is “a prayer to the God of my life” and that “the joy of the Lord is my strength.” 

I had never heard the idea of my life being a prayer to God, or at least I’d never paid it any attention if I had heard it before. I’d also never really thought of what it means that the joy of the Lord is my strength. I’d just always heard it in songs and stuff. They stood out to me this time though, and made me want to understand what they actually mean. 

If I love God, then I want to listen to Him. The desire to bring Him joy, to please Him, to obey Him out of love, gives me the strength to carry on in obedience. To serve Him. He becomes my motivation for everything. Knowing that my actions can please or displease Him, that He cares that much about me, influences how I live. I want to let my life be a prayer of thanks and an offering of love back to Him. To let my life bring Him joy and let that thought of bringing joy to the Lord be my strength to continue obeying Him. 

How do we do that?

How do we please God? What’s He looking for? 

Do Justice, Love Kindness

He wants us to do good to others and to walk with Him. If we see someone in trouble, do what we can to help them. Whether that be the people outside of stores or on the side of the road holding up signs asking for money or food. Whether it be someone who’s in desperate need of clothes for their kids or rebuilding their lives after a house fire. Whether it’s someone who seems down and needs some encouragement. 

Whatever help you can offer, do so. Without judgment. With pure love for your fellow person. God cares so much for us and He wants us to care that much for each other too. He’s a God of community. 

Pray For Others

Pray for your community too. Whether you can offer physical help or not, pray too. Our God is a God of reversals. Of restoration. Of kept promises. Fulfilled promises. There is power in prayer. Power in our God. Power in His working. And He is good. 

Pray for Him to meet their needs, whether they be physical needs, financial, emotional, whatever. Pray for those who don’t know Him, that they come to know Him. Pray for those who do know Him, that they’d be encouraged and grow closer to Him. Pray for your family, your friends, your enemies. 

Pray for the Church, for those living in hostile environments being persecuted. Pray for encouragement for them, for courage, for faith. Pray for those doing the persecuting too, that God would reveal Himself to them, that they would turn to Him. Pray for people to go into those environments too. For safety and courage and faith. Pray that God would send more people too. Ask Him how you can be a part of it. There’s an organization that I like to support called Open Doors which offers help to those in persecuted areas. You can donate here if you feel led to. 

Pray for our government officials too. I personally don’t like politics. The arguing exhausts me and I don’t care to get into it. But they lead our country. God raises up and tears down leaders as He sees fit. Pray that they’d know God. That they’d listen to His leading and lead people in a way that honors Him. 

Pray for those you might not think of too. Celebrities and the industries they work in. They’re people just the same as we are and they need prayer just as much as we do too. Pray that any who don’t know God would come to know Him. That any who do would grow closer to Him. 

I’m a big fan of K-pop and so I pray for my favorite groups. I’m even a part of a group on Facebook dedicated to praying for K-pop artists. Take your favorite form of media, whether music or movies or books. Pray for the ones in that industry. From the artists, actors, and authors to their managers, stylists, agents, and other staff members. To the CEOs and other leaders within the industry. 

Pray without ceasing.

Let your life be a prayer to the God of your life.

Let me know if there’s anything I can pray for you as well, whether you want to share in the comments for everyone to pray or if it’s a bit more private you can send me an email or a message on Instagram. Be as detailed or vague as you need to be. God knows your needs. 

I want to take a second to thank God for the opportunity I have to grow in Him through this blog. It’s as much for me to dive deeper into topics with Him as it is to share them with you. All of these reminders to pray are reminders for me as well. I forget all the time to pray for these things, but they’re so important. 

I pray that He would take this blog and let it speak to those who need it. Who want to grow in Him as well and are looking for a community to do that in. And I’m happy He’s allowing me to be a part of it. I pray that this blog would be a prayer back to Him. I’m thanking Him for the ability and the freedom to journey alongside others getting to know Him as well.