Holiness and blessing

"Déborah, you have so much favor on your life!" When people tell me this, I automatically think to myself that it wasn't always this way. It's true that I have many blessings in my life! But let's face it…they've honestly only come since I banished the "junk" from my life.

Without listing all my sins one by one, suffice it to say that there used to be many dark sides to me that no one likely would've guessed or known about—no one but me.

On Mondays, my life and thoughts certainly looked different than they did on Sundays. But there was a time when I finally cleaned up after one more breakdown in my life and said to God, "Ok, it's all or nothing! Here—You have ALL of me!"

I feel strongly that God rewards our secret surrender, obedience, and faithfulness to Him in incredible ways. I can't describe it any other way!

"…'Be holy, for I am holy.'" (1 Peter 1:16, NKJV)

Nothing attracts God's favor like holiness! That good old-fashioned holiness! This doesn't mean that you have to (or can) live flawlessly. But it does mean that after you make a mistake, you take ownership and say, "I'm sorry." It means you do things that you may consider to be "beneath your dignity" to follow Jesus and love others. It means that you're continually praying, "God, what are You asking of me now?"

We all still have room for improvement in this area. But I can promise you one thing: the blessing of a holy life is absolutely beyond compare!

I encourage you to ask yourself this question today: What are you living for? I believe that on the day we stand before the Lord, many of our pursuits—more followers on social media, more money, more fame, etc.—will be of little interest to Him. What matters to God is the answer to the question, "Are you following Me?"

What will your answer be?

You are a miracle!

Déborah