To God Be The Glory

“Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different…”- C.S. Lewis

Today marks the fourth Easter of my walk with Jesus. And I have to say, like Winn Dixie, each year gets better all the time.

This time last year, I would've never believed you if you told me I'd be living in NYC a year from now.

YOU CRAZY.

But I have passed the pinch test, this is real, this is not a dream.

In the same token, if my present self could go back to last year's Miranda and tell her all the trials she was going to face in the upcoming year, I would laugh and probz stick my nose up in the air.

That's the beauty of this day, it reminds us where we've been and who we used to be, and how much, by the grace of God, we've been changed.

Just this past week I experienced an immense peace that I had never experienced before. I recognized it as the Holy Spirit literally dwelling in me. It's like I had finally given up the selfish fight and decided to trust God with absolutely everything. Things that used to worry me didn't phase me anymore. Malice and pain I used to harbor inside me were no longer there. Regrets were present, but faded, and a whole new realm of possibilities was presented to me.

What divine timing! That God would choose this week specifically to show me the immense freedom that the cross provides.

I must admit, I encountered a day this week where I decided, "Imma just follow my own will today as an experiment and see if this feeling leaves me." Sure enough, my spirit was not at peace. Reflecting on this now, I realize this was all a lesson, with the main topic being obedience.

When we are obedient to God's divine wisdom, we nourish those fruits of the Spirit-- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Yet when we follow something even as simple as our will for the day, we starve those fruits and instead feed the beast of the flesh.

This was just my lesson of the week! Can you imagine what all the Lord has done for me in this past year?

I have learned that no one can love me the way Christ does, and that it's meant to be that way. I have learned that Christ's love is indeed everlasting-- in both times of my devotion and times of my rebellion. I have learned that nothing is over until He says so. I have learned that He has plans for us that far exceeds our expectations, so why not trust in Him? I have learned that even through our perilous mistakes, He can take the broken and make them beautiful.

I stand (type) here before you admitting that even though I have been tremendously blessed with my dream come true this year, I have spent much of it in the utmost heartbreak, although I tried to fake-it-till-I-made-it as best as possible on social media. I was trying my best to get myself through all the emotions; it wasn't until recently that I finally realized my best was never going to be enough. I simply had to surrender it all to Him.

And now, by the grace of God, and in his own perfect timing, I feel whole again. More whole than I've ever felt. I am surrounded by Christian friends in the middle of New York City. I have surpassed all my fears about nursing school and my future and feel a blessed assurance that I am in the right place, at the right time, surrounded by the right people, attending the right church, and the list goes on...

I say none of this to intimidate anyone but to simply extend the invitation.

I wonder if you, too, have been through a personal struggle this year that has worn you pretty thin? I'm here to encourage you that this struggle--no matter how daunting it may seem, no matter how much of yourself you feel you have lost--can be used as an immense blessing if you would have the courage to hand it over to Jesus, the first abstract artist.

I have the immense blessing of being able to go to a rockin' church service that straight up feels like a revival every Sunday (What is, Hillsong NYC?)

They've recently introduced two new songs that I'm obsessed with

Touch the Sky

and

To God Be The Glory

I'd encourage you to listen to them ASAP

but for now, here's some of the lyrics I really identify with

(from Touch the Sky)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1RQciil7B0

I got so high to fall so far

But I found heaven as love swept low

My heart beating, my soul breathing

I found my life when I laid it down

Upward falling, spirit soaring

I touch the sky when my knees hit the ground

What treasure waits within Your scars

This gift of freedom gold can't buy

I bought the world and sold my heart

You traded heaven to have me again

I take so much comfort in the realization that Jesus traded the greatness of heaven to come down and save ME. Insane in the membrane.

(from To God Be the Glory)

I live that the name of Jesus be lifted high

With Christ, risen from death to life

No longer I

But You alone

To God be the Glory

Such vibes.

Peace and Love (and Christ),

Miranda