Here you can find devotionals written for Anointed April by myself and my very much beloved sister in Christ, with the exception of those we borrowed from various Christian publications. Enjoy!
How it works:
In Anointed April, we encouraged our readers to start the day by reading the Morning Prayer, which was the same every day, and to see what their Daily Challenge was for the day. The main devotional was designed to be read in the evening time, or whenever is usual for you to have a quiet time. We had an evening prayer every day which was relevant to the devotional of the day. Some days we borrowed prayers, devotionals and challenges. I won't post those on here, but I'll reference where we got some of them from over on the Wonderful Things page.
For now I've just published a selection of devotionals and the Morning Prayer on here but if anyone has a burning desire to follow this devotional, let me know and I can post more!
Morning Prayer:
Dear Lord, I thank you for the new and exciting day ahead. Help me to see the hope in the sunrise, and reveal yourself to me in every hour of the day. Through all my thoughts and feelings, guide me in each step, and declare your truth through every word I speak. In every circumstance facing me today, remind me that you work all things together for your glory.
Amen
Devotionals:
Day 1 - Your will be done
Reading: Matthew 26:36-46
I want to take today’s devotional to a bit of Matthew which I absolutely love.
The reason I love this passage so much is that it uncovers a side of Jesus which perhaps we haven’t’ read about so much earlier in the Gospel. We’ve seen Jesus as a teacher and a healer, even Jesus angry. We’ve seen him preaching to thousands, we’ve seen him working miracles, and we’ve seen him sincere, but this passage really draws on Jesus’ raw desperation and heartache.
These ten verses really remind me of the fact that God has lived as a human. He can often seem irrelevant when we go through tough times, purely because our troubles seem a million miles from what he experienced- but he did experience pain and troubles, big and small, just like we do.
Whatever your hardship is, one of the hardest things to do is take your pain to God and say “Your will be done”, we surrender our lives to him. We choose for him to be in control of our pain. We decide that the life he has for us is the best one possible. We choose to (excuse the cliché) stop surviving and start living, and it’s the best decision we can make.
Day 2 - Create in me a pure heart
Reading: Psalm 51
I used to believe that starting afresh with God was something I did all too often: that if I kept saying ‘Lord, let’s start all over again’, that meant my walk was detached and my testimony wasn’t authentic.
This is so very wrong.
Should I have a problem with my Internet connection, I do not hesitate to press F5. And I will probably continue to do so, free of guilt, until everything is working properly again. And this should be the same attitude we have our live with God- he doesn’t resent us for asking for a clean slate all the time, nor is there anything broken about wanting to be washed clean. By contrast, we are encouraged to keep coming back to God.
"Therefore, we do not lose heart , though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day." (2 Corinthians 4:16)
"I have swept away your offences like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have renewed you" (Isaiah 44:22)
We may feel totally unworthy of forgiveness, and to an extent, we are right - see verses 4 and 5 of today’s passage, Psalm 51 - but our God is merciful. He will remove our sins, and we will be whiter than snow (verse 7) His grace means we don’t need to live in guilt, his forgiveness makes us pure, so we can go and live our lives the way he wants us to.
Press F5 in your life right now, and let’s get this thing started.
Day 4 - Doubts
Reading: Mark 11:20:25
As a new Christian, the concept of doubt did worse for my faith than the doubt itself. I was so tied up about the fact I ‘wasn’t believing right’ that I couldn’t focus on talking to God and moving my relationship with him forward.
I was so consumed with fear that God wouldn’t love me completely for as long as I doubted, that I was failing.
Looking back, my logic was very faulty. I was living in fear of not believing God in whom I clearly believed to have such a fear.
"My doubting friend, your case is not as bad as you think it is. You have more faith than you think you have. You have faith enough to pray; you have faith enough to believe that you will be heard. Faith is a strange thing, it often conceals itself in such a way that we can neither see nor find it...the essence of faith is to come to Christ." 'Prayer', O. Hallesby.
I know I'm not the only one to have had these thoughts. I love Hallesby's point that faith has a tendency to hide from even ourselves. When you get down to it, if you're worried about 'not being able to believe', don't be. You already do.
Of course, we are always striving to get closer to God, but that isn't to say we lack any sort of worth today. As Paul says to the church of Philippi, our lives with God are a journey. We are "running towards the goal...in order to win the prize, which is God's call through Christ Jesus to the life above.
This journey with God will continue until the day we get to join him in Heaven, and he loves us for the faith we have in him TODAY.
Day 5 -Running, not hiding
Reading: Jonah
It's said when faced with a challenging situation, you either fight, flee or freeze. It's a basic survival instinct which is still activated under acute stress, and everybody's responses are one of the three above. I am definitely one of those who flees. In fact, for as long as I can remember, the second I feel threatened, I run, and yes - sometimes literally. And I’m guilty of running from God in exactly the same way when he tells me to do something I’m not comfortable with. I know it’s wrong, but I do it anyway. Psalm 139 verses 7-10 say “Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”
I'm going to touch briefly on the story of Jonah, and you're probably going to think you know the story - it's a typical Sunday school tale. But honestly, I'd urge you to read it right now. It's 4 chapters, 2 pages at the most.A man, confronted with a very clear calling from God, got scared, and ran, actually about as far away from Nineveh as was humanly possible at the time. But God still used him in such a powerful way. A whole city, men, women and children turned to the Lord and were saved. Now, how many times are we guilty of running away from God’s calling on our lives. I don’t even mean the big things, I’m talking about those little nudges on the way to school to talk to the girl looking upset just on the outside of your friendship group. God never asks us to do anything we’re not capable of. Or more accurately, what he’s capable of. Often we feel inadequate, and we worry about what everyone else around us might think, but as we take that step of faith, God equips us with everything we need. The words to speak, the strength to stand and the courage to make a difference, big or small.
Tonight’s prayer is the one in Jonah two, and although it’s not entirely related to tonight’s devotional, I think it’s great, and relevant to us all. From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said:
"In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.From the realm of the dead I called for help, you listened to my cry.You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled around me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, whish shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you.What I have vowed I will make good. I will say 'Salvation comes from the Lord'"
Day 6 - Made in his image
Reading: Collossians 3:12
If I’m completely honest, I spend so much time in front of the mirror, getting so caught up in every last hair being in perfect place, I lose sight of the things in the passage above that are so important. For so long, I agonised over what to wear each day, trying to find something that would please everybody else, make me look taller, skinner, prettier…
But when we lose sight of who we are, and give in to the world’s opinion of airbrushed beauty, we’re taking away from what God made us. Perfect exactly how he created, and yes, BEAUTIFUL. Going back to today’s verse, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience is what sets us apart of God’s children. These are the attributes of godly women, the things that people see about us that are different.
We don’t need to spend hours telling ourselves we’re not good enough when we look in the mirror, because none of it matters anyway. We’re beautiful outside and in: God looks at the heart.
1 Peter 3 verse 4 says “You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God”. The closer we draw to God, and the more we fall in love with his beauty - the purest and truest of all, the more we reflect this in our lives.
Day 7 - Exams
Reading: James 4:13-17, Matt 6:25-34
Our culture places a huge amount of value on educational achievement. The family now tends to place more pressure to achieve than most universities and workplaces do, and far too many young people base their self-worth and happiness on exam results. An all too common mindset is that A grades = happiness and failure in exams = failure in life.
But this ISN’T TRUE.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to do well in exams. There is absolutely nothing wrong with trying hard to get the best grade you can.
The problem comes when we start believing that how well we perform in exams is a valid representation of our life potential.
“I will not let an exam result decide my fate” is a quote from Suli Breaks. As children of God, we are blessed to know that our lives are not based on worldly values, and that God has an amazing plan for each of us. By deciding that all my life is worth is how well I do in a certain set of exams I am, if unknowingly, rejecting the awesome plan that my awesome God has set out for me.
I urge you to read over the second passage from time to time during the exam period.
Exams don’t get us into heaven. Get a C in Maths and an A in following Jesus.
Day 9 - Oh Great Lord of PMS
Reading: Romans 8:26
The poetic books (Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Proverbs, Song of Songs) are a great place to go when we're emotional. There are stories of happiness, rejoicing, love, hatred, anger, sorrow, desperation, thanks and fear. They're all beautifully written and express such incredible emotion, but I can't help but feel they lack mundane realism.
It's hard to know where to turn when you're having an off day. Where’s God when the little things go wrong? Where's God when you tripped over in front of a group of classmates? Where's God when you were dying for a cup of tea but you're out of milk? Where's God when you ordered a really beautiful dress only to find when it arrives that it doesn't fit? Quite simply, where's God when you've got PMS?
I don't know about you, but when I'm hormonal, my relationships suffer - with my family, with my friends and with God. Whether it's for a day or a fortnight, during that time I may well hate the world and everything in it, and what's most frustrating is I know I have no real reason to be so upset – and my prayer life suffers.
I don't feel I can turn to God and say "Lord, please have mercy on me because I am hurting" because I know I have nothing to be upset about.
I can't say "Father, I know there's a reason for this suffering, I trust you" because I don't feel like I can say I'm suffering.
I can't say "Thank you Lord for blessing me so much, thank you for my life and everything in it" because I FEEL LIKE CRAP AND I DON’T WANT TO SAY THANK YOU.
Sometimes we are grumpy, and that's all there is to it. That is normal. That is natural. Where is God when we're moody? As ever, he is right with us. And it's absolutely OK to say to him "I feel really rubbish today Lord. I'm sorry for when I've acted badly today and thank you for the good bits, but actually right now I'm really not that happy and I don't have a good reason why."
Our God is so good - he's kind and he's understanding and he loves us to pieces. He knows exactly how we feel and he's there for a chat about how our day went HOWEVER our day went. He isn't a fair-weather friend and nor is he only there for the hard times. Sure, God loves us when we’re being dynamic. But he loves us just as much when we’re eating Oreos in our pyjamas and watching Bridget Jones. And, every now and again, that’s exactly what we need.
Day 10 - Patience
Reading: Romans 8:25
How good are you at waiting? For what? Doesn’t it sometimes feel like we spend our whole lives waiting for something - holidays, Christmas, exam results….
How good are you at waiting on God? Sometimes it’s hard to have patience when we’re desperate for God to change a situation or answer a prayer. But waiting on God forces us to go deeper in our relationship with him, as we learn to rely on him more intentionally. And he will provide us with everything we need as it comes, including patience.
One of the Bible Dictionary's definitions of patience (proper Bible geek right here) is ‘The act or quality of waiting long for justice or expected good without discontent.’ God works everything out with his divine timing, even if it seems like he’s wrong right now- because he never breaks a promise. And he had promised good to you, it’s an over-quoted verse but Jeremiah 29:11 says “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” So it’s about trusting him with the plans for your life, and at the same time being content with what you do have. When people wait expectantly and patient for God to do something, situations, even lives change.
Day 11 – Discernment
Reading: Psalm 34:8
My father is a very sceptical man, and this aspect of his personality has very much been inherited by his two children. I have learnt to take everything I hear with a pinch of salt until I have gathered enough information for myself that I can consider it true.
It’s a trait I’m very grateful to have.
Scepticism is often associated with the idea of “believing in science, not God”, a concept which, in itself, I disagree with on so many levels. But furthermore, the idea that being sceptical is not compatible with believing in God strikes me as completely ridiculous. By contrast, I believe scepticism is not only a key to having a great faith, but also that it is a very biblical concept.
In the Gospels, you’ll find numerous stories of Jesus preaching that we should be wary of false religious teaching. Paul writes a similar message frequently in the epistles. We are instructed to be “discerning”, or in other words, to have our truth radar switched on at all times and to not be afraid to reject any information we don’t think rings true in what God tells us, both personally and through the Bible.
We need to be discerning of what we hear from teachers, parents, church leaders, celebrities, scientists, newsreaders, authority figures and anyone else.
Being ‘sceptical’ or ‘discerning’ does not mean being closed minded – the most intelligent people on this planet are those who are both open minded but also search for their own truths before accepting them.
It is particularly difficult to discern messages we hear from people we trust and respect the most. It may be that when a youth leader or pastor at your church – or any other authority figure you have a good relationship with - says something which doesn’t quite “fit” with your beliefs, you swallow your feelings and accept it as true because of who you have heard it from.
According to God, this is not what we’re meant to be doing.
Don’t accept truth from just anyone. Listen to others and find your own truths. If you’re not sure about something, ask God, pray about it, read other material on it, but don’t just take it as red. Cross-reference resources and pray, pray, pray. Especially at our age, challenging our faith at every step is very difficult, but makes for a shining faith that nothing will break down.
Day 14 - Rightly handling the Word of Truth (a letter from Lizzie to the Anointed April girls)
Reading: 2 Timothy 2:15
Dear (wonderful) girls,
I hope you've had a blessed Easter holiday and that you've had a chance to spend time with God and relaxed properly (though I appreciate a lot of us have been revising over these two weeks, still hope you've had the chance to wind down!). I think for all of us today marks the end of our holidays. I hope for your sake that not many of you are in the position I'm in and frantically doing the pieces of homework you hadn't really thought about until today (By the way, that's why I'm very short of time today and won't have time to make a pretty version Sorry!)
I find that my faith blossoms in the holidays but has a tendency to wilt when I get back to school or college. We've got a lot of work to keep up, and it's so easy to skip our quiet times because we have an essay due in the next day. Furthermore, we have our friends to see and all our extra curricular activities etc are back on. While our social lives are something God loves us and encourages us to be active in, can prove a distraction.
This term, I really want to keep my faith going strong throughout. It's a very important term for all of us - for most of us it marks the end of our AS year and completing the first half of our A levels, and a few will be going through their GCSE exams. I'm nervous, but I'm taking great comfort in the fact that God will be with me.
My life in the past 7 weeks or so has taken a huge turn for the better since I "got back into God" - I once again gave my life to Jesus, started taking my quiet time more seriously, turning to God in every situation. The effect it has had on my life is totally unbelievable. I have my joy back and all the little things seem to be working themselves out better than before. God's with me in every step and is challenging me to do things that I couldn't have done before.
I'm sharing this bit of testimony because they way I feel right now is proof to me of how much having God in my life changes everything - and that's not something I want to miss out on over the next few months. I am prone to extreme stress and subsequent meltdowns and physical illness, and I know that I am definitely not the only one in this group. As Christians we are so fortunate to be able to completely lean on God - a friend who is absolutely not going to go away, who can change situations and who provides a comfort like none other, and we're all going to need that.
My greatest hope for you all is that over the coming months, you will maintain a relationship with God which lets nothing stand against you. I'm going to be trying my hardest to do the same.
I just want to share with you a couple of things I'll be doing and that you can potentially do to keep your Jesus on when you're back at school:
1) Get involved with your Christian Union - I've loved spending an hour a week in the past 8 months just surrounded by Christians and getting a bit of teaching. The PSC CU is fantastic: if yours is any good, go along. It feels brilliant and it's definitely worth your time.
2) Setting aside a chunk of your day for quiet time and never letting it slip - I can't stress this enough. Be it ten minutes or an hour, this is so important. I am very guilty of writing essays in bed, and therefore skipping or drastically reducing my quiet time when I'm busy, but I know my day will be better when I've had even a few moments with God.
3) Iron sharpening iron - Mentors are brilliant, and if you have one that is so fantastic. However, it's also wonderful to have a kind of accountability partner of our own age in school or college - nothing formal, just someone you can chat to about Jesus every now and again for some iron sharpening iron, some advice, and a reminder to keep listening to God.
Roseanna, God and myself all love you all so much! Seriously, a crazy Holy Spirit kind of amount You're all absolutely wonderful and God's love for you is completely overwhelming me right now :')
Thanks all for participating in the first half of Anointed April. It means so much to us.
I'll be posting a bit late about how things are going to change as of tomorrow while we're back at college, but I REALLY must get back to my unfinished homework, I didn't mean to write nearly as much as I have.
Lots of love,
Lizzie xxxxx
Day 16 - Clean slate
Reading: Romans 4:7-8
Often, the hardest person to forgive is ourselves. We focus on our own weaknesses, past mistakes, and negative self talk. We worry about whether we’re believing ‘right’, or if God has really, completely forgiven us. These are lies, and they don’t come from God. 1 Peter 5:8 says ‘Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.’ Once we listen to these voices and let guilt enter our lives, the fears will grow. Fill your life with the truth.
Your sins are cleared. Gone, God will never count them- the bible says love keeps no record of wrongs. I know it feels awful when we go back to him for what feel like the thousandth time struggling with the same things. And, yes, it’s important to go back to him for forgiveness, but we’ve been set free from sin, and we shouldn’t live our lives in guilt and shame, but in the power and forgiveness of Christ.
Day 19 - Jars of clay
Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:7-11
Today I was reading the Bible and really felt I should write something on this verse. Apologies that it's quite short, and there's no document, my laptop's broken and I'm trying to type it on a very slow ancient machine
In biblical times, jars of clay were cheap vases or jars used for holding anything and everything around the house. They were inexpensive because they were fragile and liable to break, but easy to replace. This verse is saying that on our own, we are easily broken, and on our own not worth much- but it’s God that makes the difference.
We have treasure inside of us - God has put in our hearts passions and dreams, he has created our character, and given us gifts and talents. When we look at the outside and see nothing special, just boring, plain jars of clay, our Father looks at the heart and sees the treasure hidden inside of us.
Day 20 - God wants you for you
Reading: Luke 15:21-24
As I was cycling home today, a message hit me which I hope is relevant to you girls.
We need to stop worrying about our relationships with God.
Stressing about our prayer lives often can seem to put this huge block between us and God in prayer, which makes it so easy to go from on fire for God one minute to burnt out in our faiths the next. We slip into this cycle in which we feel guilty about our prayer life, and therefore don't pray as naturally and honestly with God, and feel more guilty. We can destroy our faiths through this cycle of worry, as I'm sure many of us here can testify. It can be so damaging, and so hurtful.
The simple message I want to get through to you today is that God doesn't want that. God loves you no matter how we feel our relationship with him is going. God loves us to return to him, however often, from however near or far we feel. God's love doesn't stop for anything, and that's never going to change.
Whatever state you believe your relationship with God is in, it's okay. It's okay because you can turn back to him at any time, and he will be waiting. He will be rejoicing, and he loves you so unimaginably much. Don't ever worry about asking from God because you haven't prayed recently - God just wants to hear from you, for you to come to him, and to have you as his child.
Day 21 - Boldness & Evangelism
Reading: Psalm 16:8-11
Evangelism: maybe you're made for it and have been preaching the Gospel since the day you learned to talk. Maybe you love to show and share your faith with others through words and actions. Maybe you're improving in your confidence to talk about the Lord with non-Christians.
Or maybe you're like me, and your evangelistic life has never really got off the ground.
There are a lot of problems which can cause us to find it difficult to share our belief in God with those around us - worrying what others might think of you, doubt, not knowing what to say or do or how to start a conversation - but I want to hone in today on just the one issue, which is timidity: the way we are held back from evangelising because we don't feel confident enough.
Lacking confidence is something most people go through at some stage of their lives, potentially for a significant period of time. Even those who come across confident may well find certain social situations very daunting indeed - and perhaps telling people about our faith is particularly daunting, for many reasons (being rejected, being argued with... for me, being "looked at funny" is enough to be considered scary).
The piece of advice I hope I can offer in gaining confidence to evangelise come in the form of Bible verses.
Psalm 51:15 "Help me to speak, Lord,
and I will praise you." - Simply asking God for the words can work wonders. Have confidence in the fact that when there's something that needs to be said, God will help you say it. Roseanna has written on here before about the fact that God will never ask you to do anything you're incapable of doing. He'll help you through it.
2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." - God has already given us this amazing spirit as he works through us. You ARE a strong person, because God made you that way.
Deuteronomy 31:6 "So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you." - If our God is with us, then who can ever stop us, and if our God is for us, then what can stand against?
Day 23 - Decisions
Reading: Proverbs 3:5-6
We’re surrounded by choices to make at every point of each day. Maybe deciding between cereals at breakfast, or what to wear in the morning aren’t the most important thing in the world, but we’re all at a stage in our lives where there are more serious decisions to make that will impact the rest of our future. Personally I’m ridiculously indecisive, but what does God say about decision making?
Genuinely, the first thing I recommend when facing big decisions is praying. It seems too simple, but God does listen to our prayers, and he will always send his Holy Spirit to help us if we ask. The second thing is the Bible is one of the best tools right at our fingertips- consult his word for guidance. I know it was written 2000+ years ago, but it still has valuable wisdom on the choices that shape our lives. Psalm 119 verse 105 says ‘your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path,’ and this couldn’t be more true.
Talk to people you can trust: although at the end of the day it’s your decision and your life, a different perspective is refreshing, I find my closest friends see things in situations that I completely miss
And lastly, but most importantly, if God’s really calling you to do something. I’ve said it before, but honestly, you won’t regret it. Philippians 2:13 says ‘For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him.’ Pray for God to give the desire to obey him and seek his wisdom, and he will guide you.
Day 24 - Excited for Christ
Reading: 1 Peter 2:9
Tonight there is excitement in my heart.
I am excited because of who we are.
We are children of God. We are Jesus' generation. We are the product of an almighty sacrifice. We are friends of God. We are a family in Christ. We are God's army. We are the light. We are the body of Christ on earth. We are the ones who carry the Spirit.
We are CHOSEN to be Christ's.
Of all the billions in the world, God has CHOSEN you and me to be his, and to take the calling he's given us in the world. And it's the best calling, because it's simply to be his, which is the best life choice any of us could ever make.
We have a habit of referring to activities God wants us to do as "callings". While certainly there are lots of things God has planned for us to do on this earth, it's easy to forget that all of these things are just part of the one true calling: to love and be loved by him. To worship. Simply, to believe.
Callings within that one true calling are brilliant and my own experiences have shown me that saying 'Yes' to such encouragements from God does amazing things for my life, but at the root of it all is a God who loves, who has a plan and to whom wasted time does not exist.
We are aiming for the best relationship with God we can have, for the best spiritual life we can have, and that's fantastic. It's definitely something we should run towards, but we can get so wound round the idea of being "good Christians" that we forget that God works in a most gloriously simple kind of love. We forget to go back to him and just say "Lord, I am yours."
Day 25 - Questioning faith
Reading: Titus 3:9
I’m sure all of us have big questions related to our faith- why does God allow so much suffering? What’s the deal with heaven/hell? Why does it feel like God never talks to me? Personally, there are lots of things about God I don’t understand, but this doesn’t make my faith any less weak. So don’t be discouraged, and it’s not a bad thing to question your beliefs. I encourage you to really think about where you put your faith, because it's good not to blindly accept things. As long as you understand that isn’t not about knowing all the answers, because how could anyone human understand everything about a creator God, a compassionate God who loved humanity so much he died so we, imperfect beings could have a relationship with such a perfect, and all-powerful God.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”- Hebrews 11 verse 1. I find this verse so encouraging because it reiterates that we don’t have to be sure about everything else to have faith. We’ve written on doubt before, and I recommend a re-read if this a real issue.
But what I do know, the proof I have is the personal relationship I have with Jesus, the living and holy God. I also have my testimony, the real changes and healing in my life that couldn’t come from human effort, but from knowing the Holy Spirit.
Day 26 - Gossip
Reading: Colossians 3:17
I’ve been putting this topic off for the whole month because frankly, I’m terrible when it comes to gossip. We all know that gossip is bad, and harmful. In fact, it’s one of the issues that the bible is really clear on. Read proverbs, and you can hardly avoid the topic. But this fact doesn’t make it any easier to fall into the trap.
As girls, I think it’s so difficult to avoid slipping into gossip when talking to each other. As Christian girls, I find that it’s actually harder to avoid it when talking to my other friends at church, youth group, sleepovers, or even at college. I think because in this context, it doesn’t seem like gossip at the time. If you’re saying anything about someone that isn’t positive, and that you wouldn’t say straight to them, as a general rule that’s gossip.
It’s difficult to avoid, but if you do, it’s something people notice that is different about you straight away. The truth is that our words have power, and it’s up to us to decide how to use it.
Day 28 - Friends and Fellowship
Reading: Ephesians 4:32
Personally, I feel that having got to college, my friendship group has reached a great place in that it has struck a good balance of Christians and non-Christians. The Christians among us now feel comfortable discussing our faith in front of the non-Christians, who hopefully never feel that our beliefs are being pushed onto them.
This has been a real answer to something we've been praying about since year 10, and it's been a great encouragement in our faiths.
Having a small Christian fellowship to turn to is really key in our faith - Jesus said that when two or three people meet to talk with him, their prayers will be answered (Matthew 18:20). It's also important for accountability - sometimes we need someone to be deadly honest and turn to ask and ask if we truly believe our actions really reflect God's plan for our lives.
If you don't have this, you're not doing anything wrong and, as always, prayer is the solution. God is so happy to get someone to walk into your life with whom you can discuss the big questions and the little things. Also, get out there and get chatting to Christians - at the CU, on Facebook or over hot chocolate sometime.
If you are struggling to find anyone, the two of us are always around for chatting, on here or at college or wherever else and we'd be so happy to talk to you.
And just to get it out there, Jesus is the best friend of all. Who will never, ever, ever leave us and is there to listen to everything on our hearts.
Day 29 - Callings
Reading: Jeremiah 29:11 (if you haven't read Decisions from Day 23, please do so first! This is a follow-on!)
So we're getting close to the end of Anointed April and these last few days mean a lot to us in terms of what we're talking about. So I decided to let God take control by going onto Sanders Web for a random Bible verse and committing to write whatever verse first came up. And I got Jeremiah 29:11! This is cool because we all know it and I've got a lot to say.
When we started this, we decided to try and have a general focus on the future and what we want to do with it, because most of us are at a stage in our lives that we're starting to look at universities and think about career choices, gap years, work placements...
It seems like a terrifying world we're entering into - it's all a bit new and away from the shelter of compulsory education that we're used to. We'll be in different situations - some of us will know what to do but not how to get there, some of us have no clue what we might want to do with our lives, some of us know where we want to be and how to get there, but are lacking the means to do it for whatever reason.
Have you tried careers appointments? Have you tried meeting with your tutor or your subject teachers? Have you searched the Internet for advice? Have you written a personal statement? Have you done some work experience? Have you had any prospectuses delivered, or visited any unis?
These are all fantastic things, and I commend you (because honestly, if you've done more than two or three of these, you're further ahead than me). However, these all are diminished into nothing if we forget the most important research of all: prayer.
Researching into the will of our God is the most important thing we can do in this stressful decision making time, and it will always bring the clearest and most exciting results.
Personally, I'm battling at the moment because I feel God may be calling me to do something I don't feel able to do because of the people I love, but I know I absolutely have to remember how amazing Jesus is, how all things that may hold me back will be fixed. I don't know how many times we've said this already, but God will never, ever call us to do something we can't do. Whatever is getting between you and God's plan for you WILL be taken away, or you will have the power to get past it - maybe not in the way you expect, but he WILL make it possible.
Lastly, God's plan is the best plan. It's beautiful, it's exciting, it's full of sunshine and you will be painting such glorious stories along the way.
How it works:
In Anointed April, we encouraged our readers to start the day by reading the Morning Prayer, which was the same every day, and to see what their Daily Challenge was for the day. The main devotional was designed to be read in the evening time, or whenever is usual for you to have a quiet time. We had an evening prayer every day which was relevant to the devotional of the day. Some days we borrowed prayers, devotionals and challenges. I won't post those on here, but I'll reference where we got some of them from over on the Wonderful Things page.
For now I've just published a selection of devotionals and the Morning Prayer on here but if anyone has a burning desire to follow this devotional, let me know and I can post more!
Morning Prayer:
Dear Lord, I thank you for the new and exciting day ahead. Help me to see the hope in the sunrise, and reveal yourself to me in every hour of the day. Through all my thoughts and feelings, guide me in each step, and declare your truth through every word I speak. In every circumstance facing me today, remind me that you work all things together for your glory.
Amen
Devotionals:
Day 1 - Your will be done
Reading: Matthew 26:36-46
I want to take today’s devotional to a bit of Matthew which I absolutely love.
The reason I love this passage so much is that it uncovers a side of Jesus which perhaps we haven’t’ read about so much earlier in the Gospel. We’ve seen Jesus as a teacher and a healer, even Jesus angry. We’ve seen him preaching to thousands, we’ve seen him working miracles, and we’ve seen him sincere, but this passage really draws on Jesus’ raw desperation and heartache.
These ten verses really remind me of the fact that God has lived as a human. He can often seem irrelevant when we go through tough times, purely because our troubles seem a million miles from what he experienced- but he did experience pain and troubles, big and small, just like we do.
Whatever your hardship is, one of the hardest things to do is take your pain to God and say “Your will be done”, we surrender our lives to him. We choose for him to be in control of our pain. We decide that the life he has for us is the best one possible. We choose to (excuse the cliché) stop surviving and start living, and it’s the best decision we can make.
Day 2 - Create in me a pure heart
Reading: Psalm 51
I used to believe that starting afresh with God was something I did all too often: that if I kept saying ‘Lord, let’s start all over again’, that meant my walk was detached and my testimony wasn’t authentic.
This is so very wrong.
Should I have a problem with my Internet connection, I do not hesitate to press F5. And I will probably continue to do so, free of guilt, until everything is working properly again. And this should be the same attitude we have our live with God- he doesn’t resent us for asking for a clean slate all the time, nor is there anything broken about wanting to be washed clean. By contrast, we are encouraged to keep coming back to God.
"Therefore, we do not lose heart , though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day." (2 Corinthians 4:16)
"I have swept away your offences like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have renewed you" (Isaiah 44:22)
We may feel totally unworthy of forgiveness, and to an extent, we are right - see verses 4 and 5 of today’s passage, Psalm 51 - but our God is merciful. He will remove our sins, and we will be whiter than snow (verse 7) His grace means we don’t need to live in guilt, his forgiveness makes us pure, so we can go and live our lives the way he wants us to.
Press F5 in your life right now, and let’s get this thing started.
Day 4 - Doubts
Reading: Mark 11:20:25
As a new Christian, the concept of doubt did worse for my faith than the doubt itself. I was so tied up about the fact I ‘wasn’t believing right’ that I couldn’t focus on talking to God and moving my relationship with him forward.
I was so consumed with fear that God wouldn’t love me completely for as long as I doubted, that I was failing.
Looking back, my logic was very faulty. I was living in fear of not believing God in whom I clearly believed to have such a fear.
"My doubting friend, your case is not as bad as you think it is. You have more faith than you think you have. You have faith enough to pray; you have faith enough to believe that you will be heard. Faith is a strange thing, it often conceals itself in such a way that we can neither see nor find it...the essence of faith is to come to Christ." 'Prayer', O. Hallesby.
I know I'm not the only one to have had these thoughts. I love Hallesby's point that faith has a tendency to hide from even ourselves. When you get down to it, if you're worried about 'not being able to believe', don't be. You already do.
Of course, we are always striving to get closer to God, but that isn't to say we lack any sort of worth today. As Paul says to the church of Philippi, our lives with God are a journey. We are "running towards the goal...in order to win the prize, which is God's call through Christ Jesus to the life above.
This journey with God will continue until the day we get to join him in Heaven, and he loves us for the faith we have in him TODAY.
Day 5 -Running, not hiding
Reading: Jonah
It's said when faced with a challenging situation, you either fight, flee or freeze. It's a basic survival instinct which is still activated under acute stress, and everybody's responses are one of the three above. I am definitely one of those who flees. In fact, for as long as I can remember, the second I feel threatened, I run, and yes - sometimes literally. And I’m guilty of running from God in exactly the same way when he tells me to do something I’m not comfortable with. I know it’s wrong, but I do it anyway. Psalm 139 verses 7-10 say “Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”
I'm going to touch briefly on the story of Jonah, and you're probably going to think you know the story - it's a typical Sunday school tale. But honestly, I'd urge you to read it right now. It's 4 chapters, 2 pages at the most.A man, confronted with a very clear calling from God, got scared, and ran, actually about as far away from Nineveh as was humanly possible at the time. But God still used him in such a powerful way. A whole city, men, women and children turned to the Lord and were saved. Now, how many times are we guilty of running away from God’s calling on our lives. I don’t even mean the big things, I’m talking about those little nudges on the way to school to talk to the girl looking upset just on the outside of your friendship group. God never asks us to do anything we’re not capable of. Or more accurately, what he’s capable of. Often we feel inadequate, and we worry about what everyone else around us might think, but as we take that step of faith, God equips us with everything we need. The words to speak, the strength to stand and the courage to make a difference, big or small.
Tonight’s prayer is the one in Jonah two, and although it’s not entirely related to tonight’s devotional, I think it’s great, and relevant to us all. From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said:
"In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.From the realm of the dead I called for help, you listened to my cry.You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled around me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, whish shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you.What I have vowed I will make good. I will say 'Salvation comes from the Lord'"
Day 6 - Made in his image
Reading: Collossians 3:12
If I’m completely honest, I spend so much time in front of the mirror, getting so caught up in every last hair being in perfect place, I lose sight of the things in the passage above that are so important. For so long, I agonised over what to wear each day, trying to find something that would please everybody else, make me look taller, skinner, prettier…
But when we lose sight of who we are, and give in to the world’s opinion of airbrushed beauty, we’re taking away from what God made us. Perfect exactly how he created, and yes, BEAUTIFUL. Going back to today’s verse, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience is what sets us apart of God’s children. These are the attributes of godly women, the things that people see about us that are different.
We don’t need to spend hours telling ourselves we’re not good enough when we look in the mirror, because none of it matters anyway. We’re beautiful outside and in: God looks at the heart.
1 Peter 3 verse 4 says “You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God”. The closer we draw to God, and the more we fall in love with his beauty - the purest and truest of all, the more we reflect this in our lives.
Day 7 - Exams
Reading: James 4:13-17, Matt 6:25-34
Our culture places a huge amount of value on educational achievement. The family now tends to place more pressure to achieve than most universities and workplaces do, and far too many young people base their self-worth and happiness on exam results. An all too common mindset is that A grades = happiness and failure in exams = failure in life.
But this ISN’T TRUE.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to do well in exams. There is absolutely nothing wrong with trying hard to get the best grade you can.
The problem comes when we start believing that how well we perform in exams is a valid representation of our life potential.
“I will not let an exam result decide my fate” is a quote from Suli Breaks. As children of God, we are blessed to know that our lives are not based on worldly values, and that God has an amazing plan for each of us. By deciding that all my life is worth is how well I do in a certain set of exams I am, if unknowingly, rejecting the awesome plan that my awesome God has set out for me.
I urge you to read over the second passage from time to time during the exam period.
Exams don’t get us into heaven. Get a C in Maths and an A in following Jesus.
Day 9 - Oh Great Lord of PMS
Reading: Romans 8:26
The poetic books (Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Proverbs, Song of Songs) are a great place to go when we're emotional. There are stories of happiness, rejoicing, love, hatred, anger, sorrow, desperation, thanks and fear. They're all beautifully written and express such incredible emotion, but I can't help but feel they lack mundane realism.
It's hard to know where to turn when you're having an off day. Where’s God when the little things go wrong? Where's God when you tripped over in front of a group of classmates? Where's God when you were dying for a cup of tea but you're out of milk? Where's God when you ordered a really beautiful dress only to find when it arrives that it doesn't fit? Quite simply, where's God when you've got PMS?
I don't know about you, but when I'm hormonal, my relationships suffer - with my family, with my friends and with God. Whether it's for a day or a fortnight, during that time I may well hate the world and everything in it, and what's most frustrating is I know I have no real reason to be so upset – and my prayer life suffers.
I don't feel I can turn to God and say "Lord, please have mercy on me because I am hurting" because I know I have nothing to be upset about.
I can't say "Father, I know there's a reason for this suffering, I trust you" because I don't feel like I can say I'm suffering.
I can't say "Thank you Lord for blessing me so much, thank you for my life and everything in it" because I FEEL LIKE CRAP AND I DON’T WANT TO SAY THANK YOU.
Sometimes we are grumpy, and that's all there is to it. That is normal. That is natural. Where is God when we're moody? As ever, he is right with us. And it's absolutely OK to say to him "I feel really rubbish today Lord. I'm sorry for when I've acted badly today and thank you for the good bits, but actually right now I'm really not that happy and I don't have a good reason why."
Our God is so good - he's kind and he's understanding and he loves us to pieces. He knows exactly how we feel and he's there for a chat about how our day went HOWEVER our day went. He isn't a fair-weather friend and nor is he only there for the hard times. Sure, God loves us when we’re being dynamic. But he loves us just as much when we’re eating Oreos in our pyjamas and watching Bridget Jones. And, every now and again, that’s exactly what we need.
Day 10 - Patience
Reading: Romans 8:25
How good are you at waiting? For what? Doesn’t it sometimes feel like we spend our whole lives waiting for something - holidays, Christmas, exam results….
How good are you at waiting on God? Sometimes it’s hard to have patience when we’re desperate for God to change a situation or answer a prayer. But waiting on God forces us to go deeper in our relationship with him, as we learn to rely on him more intentionally. And he will provide us with everything we need as it comes, including patience.
One of the Bible Dictionary's definitions of patience (proper Bible geek right here) is ‘The act or quality of waiting long for justice or expected good without discontent.’ God works everything out with his divine timing, even if it seems like he’s wrong right now- because he never breaks a promise. And he had promised good to you, it’s an over-quoted verse but Jeremiah 29:11 says “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” So it’s about trusting him with the plans for your life, and at the same time being content with what you do have. When people wait expectantly and patient for God to do something, situations, even lives change.
Day 11 – Discernment
Reading: Psalm 34:8
My father is a very sceptical man, and this aspect of his personality has very much been inherited by his two children. I have learnt to take everything I hear with a pinch of salt until I have gathered enough information for myself that I can consider it true.
It’s a trait I’m very grateful to have.
Scepticism is often associated with the idea of “believing in science, not God”, a concept which, in itself, I disagree with on so many levels. But furthermore, the idea that being sceptical is not compatible with believing in God strikes me as completely ridiculous. By contrast, I believe scepticism is not only a key to having a great faith, but also that it is a very biblical concept.
In the Gospels, you’ll find numerous stories of Jesus preaching that we should be wary of false religious teaching. Paul writes a similar message frequently in the epistles. We are instructed to be “discerning”, or in other words, to have our truth radar switched on at all times and to not be afraid to reject any information we don’t think rings true in what God tells us, both personally and through the Bible.
We need to be discerning of what we hear from teachers, parents, church leaders, celebrities, scientists, newsreaders, authority figures and anyone else.
Being ‘sceptical’ or ‘discerning’ does not mean being closed minded – the most intelligent people on this planet are those who are both open minded but also search for their own truths before accepting them.
It is particularly difficult to discern messages we hear from people we trust and respect the most. It may be that when a youth leader or pastor at your church – or any other authority figure you have a good relationship with - says something which doesn’t quite “fit” with your beliefs, you swallow your feelings and accept it as true because of who you have heard it from.
According to God, this is not what we’re meant to be doing.
Don’t accept truth from just anyone. Listen to others and find your own truths. If you’re not sure about something, ask God, pray about it, read other material on it, but don’t just take it as red. Cross-reference resources and pray, pray, pray. Especially at our age, challenging our faith at every step is very difficult, but makes for a shining faith that nothing will break down.
Day 14 - Rightly handling the Word of Truth (a letter from Lizzie to the Anointed April girls)
Reading: 2 Timothy 2:15
Dear (wonderful) girls,
I hope you've had a blessed Easter holiday and that you've had a chance to spend time with God and relaxed properly (though I appreciate a lot of us have been revising over these two weeks, still hope you've had the chance to wind down!). I think for all of us today marks the end of our holidays. I hope for your sake that not many of you are in the position I'm in and frantically doing the pieces of homework you hadn't really thought about until today (By the way, that's why I'm very short of time today and won't have time to make a pretty version Sorry!)
I find that my faith blossoms in the holidays but has a tendency to wilt when I get back to school or college. We've got a lot of work to keep up, and it's so easy to skip our quiet times because we have an essay due in the next day. Furthermore, we have our friends to see and all our extra curricular activities etc are back on. While our social lives are something God loves us and encourages us to be active in, can prove a distraction.
This term, I really want to keep my faith going strong throughout. It's a very important term for all of us - for most of us it marks the end of our AS year and completing the first half of our A levels, and a few will be going through their GCSE exams. I'm nervous, but I'm taking great comfort in the fact that God will be with me.
My life in the past 7 weeks or so has taken a huge turn for the better since I "got back into God" - I once again gave my life to Jesus, started taking my quiet time more seriously, turning to God in every situation. The effect it has had on my life is totally unbelievable. I have my joy back and all the little things seem to be working themselves out better than before. God's with me in every step and is challenging me to do things that I couldn't have done before.
I'm sharing this bit of testimony because they way I feel right now is proof to me of how much having God in my life changes everything - and that's not something I want to miss out on over the next few months. I am prone to extreme stress and subsequent meltdowns and physical illness, and I know that I am definitely not the only one in this group. As Christians we are so fortunate to be able to completely lean on God - a friend who is absolutely not going to go away, who can change situations and who provides a comfort like none other, and we're all going to need that.
My greatest hope for you all is that over the coming months, you will maintain a relationship with God which lets nothing stand against you. I'm going to be trying my hardest to do the same.
I just want to share with you a couple of things I'll be doing and that you can potentially do to keep your Jesus on when you're back at school:
1) Get involved with your Christian Union - I've loved spending an hour a week in the past 8 months just surrounded by Christians and getting a bit of teaching. The PSC CU is fantastic: if yours is any good, go along. It feels brilliant and it's definitely worth your time.
2) Setting aside a chunk of your day for quiet time and never letting it slip - I can't stress this enough. Be it ten minutes or an hour, this is so important. I am very guilty of writing essays in bed, and therefore skipping or drastically reducing my quiet time when I'm busy, but I know my day will be better when I've had even a few moments with God.
3) Iron sharpening iron - Mentors are brilliant, and if you have one that is so fantastic. However, it's also wonderful to have a kind of accountability partner of our own age in school or college - nothing formal, just someone you can chat to about Jesus every now and again for some iron sharpening iron, some advice, and a reminder to keep listening to God.
Roseanna, God and myself all love you all so much! Seriously, a crazy Holy Spirit kind of amount You're all absolutely wonderful and God's love for you is completely overwhelming me right now :')
Thanks all for participating in the first half of Anointed April. It means so much to us.
I'll be posting a bit late about how things are going to change as of tomorrow while we're back at college, but I REALLY must get back to my unfinished homework, I didn't mean to write nearly as much as I have.
Lots of love,
Lizzie xxxxx
Day 16 - Clean slate
Reading: Romans 4:7-8
Often, the hardest person to forgive is ourselves. We focus on our own weaknesses, past mistakes, and negative self talk. We worry about whether we’re believing ‘right’, or if God has really, completely forgiven us. These are lies, and they don’t come from God. 1 Peter 5:8 says ‘Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.’ Once we listen to these voices and let guilt enter our lives, the fears will grow. Fill your life with the truth.
Your sins are cleared. Gone, God will never count them- the bible says love keeps no record of wrongs. I know it feels awful when we go back to him for what feel like the thousandth time struggling with the same things. And, yes, it’s important to go back to him for forgiveness, but we’ve been set free from sin, and we shouldn’t live our lives in guilt and shame, but in the power and forgiveness of Christ.
Day 19 - Jars of clay
Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:7-11
Today I was reading the Bible and really felt I should write something on this verse. Apologies that it's quite short, and there's no document, my laptop's broken and I'm trying to type it on a very slow ancient machine
In biblical times, jars of clay were cheap vases or jars used for holding anything and everything around the house. They were inexpensive because they were fragile and liable to break, but easy to replace. This verse is saying that on our own, we are easily broken, and on our own not worth much- but it’s God that makes the difference.
We have treasure inside of us - God has put in our hearts passions and dreams, he has created our character, and given us gifts and talents. When we look at the outside and see nothing special, just boring, plain jars of clay, our Father looks at the heart and sees the treasure hidden inside of us.
Day 20 - God wants you for you
Reading: Luke 15:21-24
As I was cycling home today, a message hit me which I hope is relevant to you girls.
We need to stop worrying about our relationships with God.
Stressing about our prayer lives often can seem to put this huge block between us and God in prayer, which makes it so easy to go from on fire for God one minute to burnt out in our faiths the next. We slip into this cycle in which we feel guilty about our prayer life, and therefore don't pray as naturally and honestly with God, and feel more guilty. We can destroy our faiths through this cycle of worry, as I'm sure many of us here can testify. It can be so damaging, and so hurtful.
The simple message I want to get through to you today is that God doesn't want that. God loves you no matter how we feel our relationship with him is going. God loves us to return to him, however often, from however near or far we feel. God's love doesn't stop for anything, and that's never going to change.
Whatever state you believe your relationship with God is in, it's okay. It's okay because you can turn back to him at any time, and he will be waiting. He will be rejoicing, and he loves you so unimaginably much. Don't ever worry about asking from God because you haven't prayed recently - God just wants to hear from you, for you to come to him, and to have you as his child.
Day 21 - Boldness & Evangelism
Reading: Psalm 16:8-11
Evangelism: maybe you're made for it and have been preaching the Gospel since the day you learned to talk. Maybe you love to show and share your faith with others through words and actions. Maybe you're improving in your confidence to talk about the Lord with non-Christians.
Or maybe you're like me, and your evangelistic life has never really got off the ground.
There are a lot of problems which can cause us to find it difficult to share our belief in God with those around us - worrying what others might think of you, doubt, not knowing what to say or do or how to start a conversation - but I want to hone in today on just the one issue, which is timidity: the way we are held back from evangelising because we don't feel confident enough.
Lacking confidence is something most people go through at some stage of their lives, potentially for a significant period of time. Even those who come across confident may well find certain social situations very daunting indeed - and perhaps telling people about our faith is particularly daunting, for many reasons (being rejected, being argued with... for me, being "looked at funny" is enough to be considered scary).
The piece of advice I hope I can offer in gaining confidence to evangelise come in the form of Bible verses.
Psalm 51:15 "Help me to speak, Lord,
and I will praise you." - Simply asking God for the words can work wonders. Have confidence in the fact that when there's something that needs to be said, God will help you say it. Roseanna has written on here before about the fact that God will never ask you to do anything you're incapable of doing. He'll help you through it.
2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." - God has already given us this amazing spirit as he works through us. You ARE a strong person, because God made you that way.
Deuteronomy 31:6 "So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you." - If our God is with us, then who can ever stop us, and if our God is for us, then what can stand against?
Day 23 - Decisions
Reading: Proverbs 3:5-6
We’re surrounded by choices to make at every point of each day. Maybe deciding between cereals at breakfast, or what to wear in the morning aren’t the most important thing in the world, but we’re all at a stage in our lives where there are more serious decisions to make that will impact the rest of our future. Personally I’m ridiculously indecisive, but what does God say about decision making?
Genuinely, the first thing I recommend when facing big decisions is praying. It seems too simple, but God does listen to our prayers, and he will always send his Holy Spirit to help us if we ask. The second thing is the Bible is one of the best tools right at our fingertips- consult his word for guidance. I know it was written 2000+ years ago, but it still has valuable wisdom on the choices that shape our lives. Psalm 119 verse 105 says ‘your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path,’ and this couldn’t be more true.
Talk to people you can trust: although at the end of the day it’s your decision and your life, a different perspective is refreshing, I find my closest friends see things in situations that I completely miss
And lastly, but most importantly, if God’s really calling you to do something. I’ve said it before, but honestly, you won’t regret it. Philippians 2:13 says ‘For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him.’ Pray for God to give the desire to obey him and seek his wisdom, and he will guide you.
Day 24 - Excited for Christ
Reading: 1 Peter 2:9
Tonight there is excitement in my heart.
I am excited because of who we are.
We are children of God. We are Jesus' generation. We are the product of an almighty sacrifice. We are friends of God. We are a family in Christ. We are God's army. We are the light. We are the body of Christ on earth. We are the ones who carry the Spirit.
We are CHOSEN to be Christ's.
Of all the billions in the world, God has CHOSEN you and me to be his, and to take the calling he's given us in the world. And it's the best calling, because it's simply to be his, which is the best life choice any of us could ever make.
We have a habit of referring to activities God wants us to do as "callings". While certainly there are lots of things God has planned for us to do on this earth, it's easy to forget that all of these things are just part of the one true calling: to love and be loved by him. To worship. Simply, to believe.
Callings within that one true calling are brilliant and my own experiences have shown me that saying 'Yes' to such encouragements from God does amazing things for my life, but at the root of it all is a God who loves, who has a plan and to whom wasted time does not exist.
We are aiming for the best relationship with God we can have, for the best spiritual life we can have, and that's fantastic. It's definitely something we should run towards, but we can get so wound round the idea of being "good Christians" that we forget that God works in a most gloriously simple kind of love. We forget to go back to him and just say "Lord, I am yours."
Day 25 - Questioning faith
Reading: Titus 3:9
I’m sure all of us have big questions related to our faith- why does God allow so much suffering? What’s the deal with heaven/hell? Why does it feel like God never talks to me? Personally, there are lots of things about God I don’t understand, but this doesn’t make my faith any less weak. So don’t be discouraged, and it’s not a bad thing to question your beliefs. I encourage you to really think about where you put your faith, because it's good not to blindly accept things. As long as you understand that isn’t not about knowing all the answers, because how could anyone human understand everything about a creator God, a compassionate God who loved humanity so much he died so we, imperfect beings could have a relationship with such a perfect, and all-powerful God.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”- Hebrews 11 verse 1. I find this verse so encouraging because it reiterates that we don’t have to be sure about everything else to have faith. We’ve written on doubt before, and I recommend a re-read if this a real issue.
But what I do know, the proof I have is the personal relationship I have with Jesus, the living and holy God. I also have my testimony, the real changes and healing in my life that couldn’t come from human effort, but from knowing the Holy Spirit.
Day 26 - Gossip
Reading: Colossians 3:17
I’ve been putting this topic off for the whole month because frankly, I’m terrible when it comes to gossip. We all know that gossip is bad, and harmful. In fact, it’s one of the issues that the bible is really clear on. Read proverbs, and you can hardly avoid the topic. But this fact doesn’t make it any easier to fall into the trap.
As girls, I think it’s so difficult to avoid slipping into gossip when talking to each other. As Christian girls, I find that it’s actually harder to avoid it when talking to my other friends at church, youth group, sleepovers, or even at college. I think because in this context, it doesn’t seem like gossip at the time. If you’re saying anything about someone that isn’t positive, and that you wouldn’t say straight to them, as a general rule that’s gossip.
It’s difficult to avoid, but if you do, it’s something people notice that is different about you straight away. The truth is that our words have power, and it’s up to us to decide how to use it.
Day 28 - Friends and Fellowship
Reading: Ephesians 4:32
Personally, I feel that having got to college, my friendship group has reached a great place in that it has struck a good balance of Christians and non-Christians. The Christians among us now feel comfortable discussing our faith in front of the non-Christians, who hopefully never feel that our beliefs are being pushed onto them.
This has been a real answer to something we've been praying about since year 10, and it's been a great encouragement in our faiths.
Having a small Christian fellowship to turn to is really key in our faith - Jesus said that when two or three people meet to talk with him, their prayers will be answered (Matthew 18:20). It's also important for accountability - sometimes we need someone to be deadly honest and turn to ask and ask if we truly believe our actions really reflect God's plan for our lives.
If you don't have this, you're not doing anything wrong and, as always, prayer is the solution. God is so happy to get someone to walk into your life with whom you can discuss the big questions and the little things. Also, get out there and get chatting to Christians - at the CU, on Facebook or over hot chocolate sometime.
If you are struggling to find anyone, the two of us are always around for chatting, on here or at college or wherever else and we'd be so happy to talk to you.
And just to get it out there, Jesus is the best friend of all. Who will never, ever, ever leave us and is there to listen to everything on our hearts.
Day 29 - Callings
Reading: Jeremiah 29:11 (if you haven't read Decisions from Day 23, please do so first! This is a follow-on!)
So we're getting close to the end of Anointed April and these last few days mean a lot to us in terms of what we're talking about. So I decided to let God take control by going onto Sanders Web for a random Bible verse and committing to write whatever verse first came up. And I got Jeremiah 29:11! This is cool because we all know it and I've got a lot to say.
When we started this, we decided to try and have a general focus on the future and what we want to do with it, because most of us are at a stage in our lives that we're starting to look at universities and think about career choices, gap years, work placements...
It seems like a terrifying world we're entering into - it's all a bit new and away from the shelter of compulsory education that we're used to. We'll be in different situations - some of us will know what to do but not how to get there, some of us have no clue what we might want to do with our lives, some of us know where we want to be and how to get there, but are lacking the means to do it for whatever reason.
Have you tried careers appointments? Have you tried meeting with your tutor or your subject teachers? Have you searched the Internet for advice? Have you written a personal statement? Have you done some work experience? Have you had any prospectuses delivered, or visited any unis?
These are all fantastic things, and I commend you (because honestly, if you've done more than two or three of these, you're further ahead than me). However, these all are diminished into nothing if we forget the most important research of all: prayer.
Researching into the will of our God is the most important thing we can do in this stressful decision making time, and it will always bring the clearest and most exciting results.
Personally, I'm battling at the moment because I feel God may be calling me to do something I don't feel able to do because of the people I love, but I know I absolutely have to remember how amazing Jesus is, how all things that may hold me back will be fixed. I don't know how many times we've said this already, but God will never, ever call us to do something we can't do. Whatever is getting between you and God's plan for you WILL be taken away, or you will have the power to get past it - maybe not in the way you expect, but he WILL make it possible.
Lastly, God's plan is the best plan. It's beautiful, it's exciting, it's full of sunshine and you will be painting such glorious stories along the way.
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