Journal the Journey

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

Eyes.

One morning this week as I was driving to work, I was thinking about how easily I let the daily ins and outs of life distract me from the One who has captivated my heart. In true God fashion, the Holy Spirit gave me the solution to this problem, and I made a note to myself to follow through. 

One thing He told me is that I’ve got to discipline myself to fix my eyes on Jesus, not only in the morning or before bed or when I pray during the day, but continually. How can this be possible? Only through God. God sent Jesus to be our Savior and King, and He sent us the very spirit that raised Jesus from the dead – the Holy Spirit – to be our confidant, our counselor, our helper, our very best friend. And because God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all One, it is by the Spirit living in us that the scriptures are true that tell us that Christ comes to live in us when we believe. So I will do my part to abide in Christ by immersing myself in His Word, the God-breathed Bible, and the Holy Spirit will be faithful to bring His Truths to my mind all day long so that I can run my race well. 

This morning I looked up “eyes” in the concordance of my study Bible, and I compiled the truths found in Psalm 119, Psalm 123, Proverbs 4, Hebrews 12, and 2 Corinthians 4 to write out this prayer for me to wholeheartedly offer to Him every morning until the truths come alive in me every moment of every day. I felt led to put this prayer on this blog in case any readers struggle with keeping their eyes on God, especially during the storms of life. Of course this prayer is just words; there is no magical power in saying these words that do a lick of good. But when we read and pray these words in agreement with them with our whole heart, there is power from our Almighty God that we are opening ourselves to be filled with. (And God is not impressed with long prayers- so on the days I cannot pray this wholeheartedly, a simple, “Help me, God” whispered by my depraved soul is heard by the One who has counted the hairs on my head and whose thoughts of me outnumber the grains of sand.) 

Be good to Your servant, that I may live and obey Your Word. Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in Your instructions. I am only a foreigner in the land. Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through Your Word.

I lift my eyes to You, O God, enthroned in Heaven. Help me look straight ahead, and fix my eyes on what You’ve laid out before me. Mark out a straight path for my feet; help me stay on the safe path. Don’t let me get sidetracked; keep my feet from following evil. Empower me to strip off every weight that slows me down, especially the sin that so easily trips me up. Let me run with endurance the race You have set before me. Help me to always remember I can only do this by keeping my eyes on Jesus, the Champion who initiates and perfects my faith! 

So I will not look at the troubles I can see now; rather I will fix my gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things I see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. 

I love You, My God. You’re my everything, and it’s my joy to be Yours.

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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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