Journal the Journey

In every season of life, through the mountains and valleys, God has always been faithful… and He always will be.

Wholeheartedly.

13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it…” – Jesus, teaching to large crowds in Matthew chapter 7

Why will only few find Him?

Isn’t He available to all? Yes, He is. Doesn’t He want all to find Him? Yes, He does.

  • I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them… This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1,3-4)
  • The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

But only a few will find Him because only few set their affections and passion on seeking Him not on occasion and not lightly, but with their whole hearts. 

  • You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)
  • But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him, if you search after Him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 4:29)
  • I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me. (Proverbs 8:17)
  • Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.(James 4:8)

Sounds so demanding, doesn’t it?

Yes, yes it does… I mean, why can’t we just make Him a part of our lives, tucked neatly into the part of our heart that is our Sunday mornings or our routine devotional times or our occasional prayers (particularly when crisis hits)?

Because He is God, and so completely different from any other so-called God out there. Because He is the only One who became like us and felt it all – hunger, heartbreak, betrayal, immense anger, exhaustion, stress, fear – yet remained completely sinless through it all.

And He didn’t do it to try to prove to us that it can be done and condemn us for always failing. He did it so that He could take our punishment and restore us into perfect, intimate, beautiful relationship with our Father God in Heaven. Because only a perfect sacrifice would be good enough to take our sin away, once and for all.

With His blood He bought us the right, the honor, to enter into relationship with Himself. He paid our ransom that we may be freed from slavery and bondage to sin, and He didn’t stop there – through Jesus Christ, we are now children of God, and heirs to God’s kingdom! (Don’t believe me? Too good to be true? It’s in His Word! Dig in and be amazed at all the goodness found within those living pages!)

We stand before God righteous when covered by the blood of Jesus. He does deserve our all, infinitely more than the people, things, hobbies, pleasures, and goals that we choose (sometimes unintentionally) to give our hearts to.

Besides, He knows His worth. He knows He deserves nothing but our all. I don’t want a God who is ok with half my heart and devotion. Would we ever be perfectly fine to have a spouse whose love is divided between us and another? So why do we often assume God overlooks or accepts such divided loyalty in us?

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dezmellish

I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been calling Birmingham, Alabama home since 2013. I’m happily married to the sweetest, most selfless man I’ve ever known. Prior to meeting and marrying him in 2021, I was a divorced mom to three daughters for 4 1/2 years. When I remarried, I gained a fourth daughter. On January 26, 2024, we lost my Dad. He had just turned 92 on January 6. He moved in with us the week after Joseph and I got married in October of 2021, and we had the honor of being his caregivers for the last 2 years and 3 months of his life. I currently work full-time as a Fitness Director at the most wonderful country club, where I also have a full load of personal training clients. This is a job I have enjoyed since 2019. Prior to entering the fitness industry, I was an elementary/middle school tutor. I have been a follower of Jesus Christ since I was a child. God showed me that He was real and that He loved me in powerful, unmistakeable ways during some very dark and difficult childhood years. As an adult, my theology has changed quite a bit. As life circumstances crushed me, I began holding all of the things I had been taught as a child, teenager, and young adult up to the light of scripture. As a result, I deconstructed my faith before deconstruction was really a thing, but never abandoned my faith in the process. After living through harmful teachings that were founded on misuse of scripture, I am passionate about the integrity of God’s Word. Nothing boils my blood quite like seeing scriptures used for selfish gain, abused, and taught out of their intended context. I have been journaling for 25 years. This is my space of the internet to share the ways God has been faithful to me as evidenced in my journals, as well as anything else that is placed on my heart to share. I hope you find something here that positively impacts you in some way. All are welcome here.

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