I am a Daughter of a King

Wow. Have you ever read a piece of scripture more than once and you still continue to get something out of it??? It is amazing. One of my favorite verses is John 21:25 where it says,
"Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written."

That is so flippin neat! I mean, it is amazing that there was SO MUCH MORE that Jesus did that we don't have written down. PLUS!!!! We already continue to read what IS written down and we can continue to gain new insight from THAT scripture!

With all this said, I was reading John 13 the other day. I wanted to use the scripture where Jesus washes His disciples feet because I wanted to wash the feet of our church's praise team. (VERY COOL EXPERIENCE) I was reading the scripture and just had to stop and smile at a new discovery. Now you probably already were aware of this significance but let's look again!

"The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that HE HAD COME FROM GOD AND WAS RETURNING TO GOD; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist." John 13:2-4

Okay, so Jesus is getting ready to wash the disciples' feet. But look at what I capitalized in the scripture. Jesus knew who He was. He wasn't washing the feet to gain favor. He wasn't washing the feet to sway their opinions. He wasn't washing the feet to be popular or gain more friends or look good or make himself feel better or raise his status. HE KNEW WHO HE WAS.

I think sometimes, and I am totally guilty of this, we do things not just because they are the right thing to do, or because scripture says to, or because it is helpful, or because it will brighten someone's day; but we do things to gain approval, to gain popularity, to sway opinions, to make ourselves feel better. I'm not saying we all need a little boost once in a while but when we serve, WHERE IS OUR HEART?

I have sought out desperately over the past years a place in this world. A definition for who I am. I have struggled with acceptance, value of myself and I have spent years trying to be ok with me. In essence I have wasted time I could have spent serving and witnessing to self help myself. More and more I am coming to the understanding that I do not do things for this world or for myself. I do what I do because I am a daughter of a King. I am designed with a purpose to know Him and make Him known. He deserves my service and my praise. He created me to worship Him. I know that I have come from God and one day I will return to Him.

WOW. That alone is sooooo freeing! No more trying to gain favor with others. Because my identity is not with them. No more fretting about if my actions make me look less in people's eyes. Because in God's eyes I am simply His. No more clamoring for attention. Because all my attention belongs to my Heavenly Father. Lord I pray that my heart will continue to be tuned to You and Your desires.

Prayer Requests:
trip to the Philippines (go or no go?)
staff and students at OMS
Darrell and Robyn
Real Life Church