"Stand Firm"

 Last night, as I was doing my devotions, I came across this verse:

"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 

~1 Corinthians 15:58

 Stand firm.

     ~ You can't stand firm if you don't know where you stand, though.

 Let nothing move you.

     ~ Plant your beliefs in concrete and don't let anything push you or pull you away.

 Give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord.

     ~ No more living for yourself.  Give your WHOLE self to the Lord. 

 Your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

     ~ When you give yourself to the work of the Lord, He will bless you.  He will reward you.  Not necessarily on earth.  But He will in heaven.  And you will feel blessed, privileged, to be working for Him.

 Sometimes, well, a LOT of times, we read the part that says, "Give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord", and think, yeah, I'm doing that.  But are we really?  Are we giving ourselves to the work of the Lord?  Or are we giving ourselves fully to the work of the Lord?  Not just part of our life, not just the "majority" of our life, but our WHOLE life.  Our whole life set apart for HIS glory.  For HIS kingdom.  For HIM.  

 Too often, we take a little bit of our lives and keep it for ourselves while the rest we give willingly to God.  But that isn't what He asks us to do. 

"Jesus replied, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."

~Matthew 22:37

 We can't love God with all our heart if we take a little piece of our hearts to keep for ourselves.  Same as our souls and our minds.  If we take even the tiniest piece for us, we are not obeying THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT.  

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

~Matthew 6:21

This week I'm thankful for:
251. emails and texts from friends on days that haven't gone well
252. an awesome Brazil team meeting
253. talking to friends who I haven't talked to in a while
254. encouragement
255. this post from Kaleigh
256. making progress in Natural Sciences
257. Khan Academy's science videos
258. movie soundtracks
259. runs with my mom
260. thunderstorms (sometimes) ;)

Love in Christ,

   Sierra