Valentine's day, 2010. I remember that day vividly - and every Valentine's day since is a reminder to check who is the love of my life.
No, not my husband - but my God.
February 14th, 8 years ago, was a Sunday like any other - when in my husband's Bible class, he remarked, "The day of your baptism should be one you remember vividly...". It wasn't meant for me, but it struck me down to my core and streams of water poured down my cheeks.
Afterwards, I ran to my husband. "I don't remember anything!" I sobbed, "I don't remember anything of what I knew or said or anything!" You see, being brought up in a Christian home, I didn't remember the day of my baptism. And I felt like I was putting it off - like something was holding me back. Pride? Fear? I wasn't sure, but it certainly wasn't love, submission, and trust.
But, as we both went down into the water and I submitted myself to immersion in the waters, relief washed over me. This was exactly what I needed to do. I knew I hadn't been dedicated before. This was my fresh start. •
It amazes me how God designed the Christian walk to start with submission. Complete submission by allowing yourself to be submerged in water. It's such a beautiful, symbolic action - we take part in His death as we die to ourselves and arise to a new life.
Whenever I restudy this, it strikes me how it's all at once so simple but yet so incredibly profound. It's the perfect picture. It's beautiful. It brings me to tears. :: May I ask you:
Have you been born again to walk anew?
If there is any doubt in your mind, please, do not hesitate.
Submit yourself to Him, fully.
All of His, Word - all of it.
Submit yourself to the waters.
God is waiting for you to return His love.
If you have questions, I'd love to talk this over with you - if you have questions, please message me. • "Don't you know, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3, 4). #herlifehisway #washedtowalkanew
Lord, our hearts ache.
Bring about change, Father - cause the rest of the nation’s hearts to learn to ache as well. Help them to feel the pain and sorrow and compassion that they have learnt not to feel. Soften our consciences - the consciences that have been seared to the point of callous. Help us feel and keep us feeling, oh Lord. Let us not turn our head and hide our eyes. It hurts to think of all the pain - all the lives that are not being respected, but cause us to remember them, nonetheless. Keep them at the forefront of our minds. Let our voices lift up with cries of sorrow and outrage.
But most of all - dear, gracious, all-merciful God - forgive us.
Forgive us for the times when we have thought of our children as burdens.
Forgive us for treating these precious souls as inconveniences, rather than reasons to praise. Do not remember all the times that we have made snide remarks, rolled our eyes at motherhood, pushed little children aside, turned a blind eye, disrespected any soul, or wished that there were no other heart beating in our bodies.
Forgive us for when we have loved and longed for our freedom more than we have cared for our children.
Forgive us for our ingratitude for our precious gifts - for every idle word we have spoken - for every time our heart was not broken when we heard of this sinful world’s ways.
We know you are gracious, oh Lord, and for that we are thankful - for too often we forget what is right. Too often our hearts are swayed by the world around us.
Lord, soften our hearts.
Let our lips sing praises to you.
Let our voices cry out for the voiceless.
Let our hearts ring with a love for all creatures.
Let our hands always lift up the weak and feeble.
And let our feet never walk in the ways of this world, in any respect.
Make our hearts, oh God, beat more to the tune of your justice, mercy, and love. Let sorrow and pain we allow ourselves to feel move us to action.
In the name of your own beloved Son - who gave up His own precious life for our lives,
Amen.
#herlifehisway #prayfortheunborn #softenourhearts #prolife
My husband is doing something incredibly thoughtful for me at the moment. For 3 months our church is conducting a special course on how to teach another person the Bible. My husband, without me knowing about this course or even asking, told me he’d take on parenting duties and I could go every Monday night for 12 weeks - because he understands the importance of me - woman, wife, and mother that I am - having a spiritual education. But this isn’t an isolated incident. My husband looks after the kids while I prepare for and conduct a home ladies’ Bible study every Monday. He bought me Bibles and study aids for Christmas. He understands that woman’s life isn’t about tip-toeing around her husband, keeping the kids out his way, and being fed the scraps of everything - she has as much worth and place as anyone and as much right to be fed with spiritual meat. My husband understands that - I wish more men did. I wish more WOMEN did. Too often we sell ourselves short.
I once heard in a ladies’ day lesson, “If you have young kids at home, it’s ok if you don’t study, because you are doing the greatest job in the world.” I couldn’t believe it, I was so irate.
The worst lie that you can tell a woman is that she is too busy or doesn’t need to study her Bible thoroughly. What we are really saying is, “Don’t worry honey, you don’t need to be worried about theology. You don’t need to become closer to God - just keep being satisfied with milk.” If we say we need Christ - it is the Word we should be craving, seeking, doing anything we can to obtain. If we say we follow Christ - we cannot give Him the scraps, we must give Him mind, body, soul, and strength. Every part.
Men and churches - make an effort to see your women taught the meat of the Word. Women - take the time and effort to know Him.
When women are in the Word, feasting on the meat of Scripture - women are closer to Christ, children are taught, husbands are supported, older women are full of wisdom to teach younger women, and younger women are better equipped for whatever life is ahead of them.
Tag someone who has encouraged you to dig deeper into His Word! 📖💙
I remember a few weeks ago I decided to bring my own cup and straw to Starbucks so I wouldn't end up with a single-use plastic cup and straw. It wasn't a big deal, just something I like to do when I can remember. I never made an announcement or said anything about it, I just brought my own cup and straw. "Oh, good thing you brought your cup and straw!
Otherwise, you would TOTALLY kill the entire planet and everything in it just because of ONE cup!" Someone piped up, in a mocking tone. "Why does this have to be such a big deal?" I thought.
Is this such a big deal? Should we care at all? 🤷♀️🌎 See what we think on this hot topic issue in this NEW post by @jayla_madison_ - link in bio @herlifehisway!
Also share what YOU think in our stories! 💙 Does this topic matter to you? Why, or why not?
#herlifehisway #plasticstraws #conservation #christoverculture #engagingculture #sustainableliving
“How hard has aging hit you?” How does your body compare to 10 years ago? Why do we do this to ourselves - and each other?
Let me tell you what I'd rather know. I’m more interested in how these years have made an impact on your soul. How you’ve gathered your scars. What you've achieved. How you’ve been victorious. What you’ve learnt along the way. What souls you’ve nourished. What lives you've enriched. What mouths you’ve fed. What struggles you’ve overcome. What burdens you’ve born. How your thinking has changed. How you share your wisdom and experiences with others. How you’ve made an impact on this world. How you’ve moved mountains and conquered things that you thought were impossible 10 years ago.
I don’t care how much you weigh now, how many wrinkles you have or haven’t gathered across your face, how your body has been stretched, or how young you look despite your years. Sooner or later this broken world will choose to etch this life onto your body in one way or another - how it does matters so. very. little.
Look, if you enjoy this thing for a bit of fun - that's OK. But just ask yourself - what is the purpose of this for you? To feel good about how well we’ve aged - or to feel guilt about how we haven’t? To have others tell us we’re beautiful (or more beautiful) either way? To inform others about why we look so good? To persuade others to our way of life (or direct sales team)? I won't judge - but you can think about it.
But, the older we get, the more we should realise how utterly worthless it is to dwell on what our bodies used to be. We aren't called to look like our 21-year-old selves forever, but to look more like Christ.
The real challenge is not found in what your face looks like now, but in how you face this life with grace and grit.
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How has 10 years made YOU stronger?
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📖 “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). #herlifehisway
Just win this minute.
Thinking about the year ahead and the things we want to improve on, being more righteous should be at the forefront of our minds. But - when you’re caught in the trenches of sin, struggle, and temptation - sometimes it is too much to think about never committing a certain sin for the rest of your life, the rest of the year, or maybe even for the next month.
Instead, sometimes we have to think about not sinning this minute, this next hour, this day - and letting those days and hours and minutes turn into weeks and months and years.
We should look at our struggles as a constant battle - an exercise, a pursuit, a discipline, a fight. As long as we are in this broken world we will face struggles and temptations, but if we commit to doing right and fleeing from wrong in just THIS moment then we have a far greater chance of victory.
God has strength for THIS moment of weakness.
And the next.
And the next.
On into eternity.
So, when it feels too much to think about seizing the day - just focus on winning THIS minute. Little by little, you'll find you've won whole hours, days, weeks, months, and years.
Just focus on now.
Minute by minute.
Hour by hour.
Day by day.
This is how life is won. • "For whoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4). #herlifehisway
Hey guys! I am happy to announce that I am going to be writing for Her Life His Way! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Jayla Sparks, my bio is up on the blog but just a little more about me, just in case you want more than a little blurb
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My name is Jayla Madison Sparks, I'm 20 years old, I live in Fort Eorth, Texas, I graduated from the Brown Trail School of Preaching this past December, and starting in the fall I plan on starting college (I'm doing my schooling very non-traditionally, since I graduated highschool almost 2 years ago and am just starting college) to get my degree in psychiatry. I'm currently engaged and my wedding date is April 6 of this year!
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I have been writing for my own personal blog (which is no longer running) as well as some others like Come Fill Your Cup, Tomorrow's Church Today, and a few others here and there, since I was 13. My passion is, and always has been, to use my writing to bring others closer to God and to help women have a deeper knowledge of His Word.
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I enjoy playing the piano, writing (duh), sewing, reading nonfiction, drawing, yoga, and drinking coffee (but really who doesn't?).
I am SUPER excited to be a co-writer with Chantelle and for the opportunity to help women in the church grow closer to God by growing in knowledge, faith, and love for the Word. ❤️
-JM
Women, this time is a time of growth, too. No matter what time this is for you - a season of study, career-building, mothering, marriage, turbulence, upheaval, singleness, loss - This is a period of time where you can grow in every way imaginable. It’s not a time to lock your life away in a box, waiting to have time for it again. It’s not a time to forget your identity as anything else but *this* - it’s a time to nurture every aspect of your life and godliness and allow them to flourish and grow despite the circumstances.
Because your number one identity is Christian. Everything else slips under this banner. Everything points to it and centers around it and must give way to it. Your relationships. Your study. Your career. Your children. Everything.
If we want to be like Jesus, we need to remember that it's not just the grand, once-in-a-lifetime moments that we need to prepare ourselves for. Our life-defining moment may never come - but we have here, and we have now.
This is not a time to put ourselves on hold.
This is not a time to put Him on hold.
What we choose to do now in the midst of crazy and busy and not-ideal - not one-distant-day-when-we-have-the-time - defines us.
Bring Him glory through the way you manage your life excellently - seeking His wisdom. Choose the excellent things. Let this season make you stronger, not weaker. Find ways to find Him in the day-to-day.
You have time - if you’re reading this, you have time. Stop believing the lie that you're too busy to seek Him. We all have the time - let’s be honest with ourselves and ask ourselves as the New Year approaches - am I making the time for Him?
Am I being like Christ?
Because no matter the season, we can be like He was - whether it’s doing the loud, earth-shattering things or the things that quietly turn the world upside down.
In every season, we can find joy. We can find opportunities to grow in wisdom and grace. We can make time for Him. We can serve others. We can spread His truth. We can shine His light.
We can work.
We can strive.
We can.
And through it all, we can bring Him glory.
And with His grace and strength, we can excel.
#herlifehisway
Loving God is more about priority than feeling.
I think the reason we struggle so much with the decision to seek and follow God at times is because we get this backwards. We let our feelings dictate our priorities, and wait for the feeling before we decide to truly commit. "I don't *feel* like studying/praying/serving/sacrificing/loving that person/keeping "x" commandment, so I won't." Perhaps we don't think we are thinking this way - but the truth is that your priorities speak as to where your true love and conviction lies. Is God first in your life? If He is, His influence will have an obvious presence in all your decision making.
If we want to love God, we choose light over darkness; His commandments over our own thoughts and desires; and Him over the world. We choose to be people who walk as Christ walks. We choose to love who, what, and how Christ loves.
We choose to seek Him and choose His way above all else - even when we don't feel like it.
And when we make seeking and serving Him a priority - then, yes, we will begin to grow and feel an incredible love for Him. But as that love ebbs and flows over our walk of faith - it is our priorities that must remain constant. It is our priorities that show where our true love and allegiance lies. ❤️ Love is more about priority than feeling, more about life-time commitment than momentuous acts of service, and far more about actions than words.
Choosing God first, before everything and everyone else, every day. That is what we are called to.
How would your life look different if you lived with this thought in the front of your mind with every decision you made? // Matthew 6:33 \\
It's easy to love those who love you. It's easy to give when you know you are going to receive - but it's not what we're called to. We're called to love with a different love. We're called to love like our Father, who loves everyone and gives everyone perfect gifts - whether or not they give Him their love in return.
When we look in scripture, we see: • Jesus healed all ten lepers, even though only one came back.
• Jesus still called Judas a friend and He still washed his feet, even though He knew he would be betrayed from Him.
• God showed His love towards us in that when we were still sinners He died for us.
• God continues to give us grace for our sins that we bring to Him - day after day, for the rest of our lives. Way more than 70x7.
He loved us before we loved Him - and if we truly wish to be followers of Him, we need to extend that same love and grace to all souls.
In a world where relationships are so easily made and broken - choose to invest in others. Always, always be kind. Always, always show love - even when it hurts.
Never let this world fool you with what its idea of what love is.
Give to those who take.
Love those who hate.
Repeat and repeat until eternity. 📖: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you [...] if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" // Jesus; Matthew 5:38ff
As you gather with His people today, meditate on His goodness, and breathe out gratitude in praise and song to the One Who gives you all things - think about how you can give to the ones worshipping with you. I know, Sunday is hard for some of us. Tackling busy mornings, car seats, fidgety children, and then a crowd of people can seem like a daunting task for the weekend. Tiredness and overwhelm come easily - and our response can be to withdraw and avoid interactions as much as possible - and perhaps even be tempted to not attend at all.
What we need to remember, though, is this: • We are part of a body - and, introverted or not - we need to think of the needs of the whole body. • We are part of a family, and we must do everything we can to make sure that everyone feels like our brother, sister, daughter, son, father, or mother. • We are part of a kingdom, and must encourage and strengthen each other for the fight. • We are the bride of Christ, and must help each other to be pure and loyal to Him.
We are the church of Christ - joined to Christ and to each other. Called out and set apart for good works. •
Woven into the very fabric of the church is togetherness. Togetherness towards good works. Togetherness towards Heaven. God didn't want for us to do this alone.
So today, no matter how hard it is, try to look past yourself.
Say hello.
Scribble down a little note of encouragement.
Ask someone out for coffee.
Invite someone over for dinner.
Call someone who wasn't there.
Take the first step, no matter how uncomfortable or awkward you may feel.
And little by little, you'll begin to feel like you are a part of a family, a kingdom, a body of believers. And through that constant drawing towards togetherness - amazing things will happen. Things beyond what you could ask or think.
Because together we can turn the world upside down. •
"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love" (Ephesians 4:15, 16). #herlifehisway
What we do on our Sunday mornings alone will not change our lives. Spirituality is a discipline - in order for it to change us, we must engage in it regularly. And honestly, nothing we do once a week and engage in half-heartedly is going to do us any good. •
If I'm honest, in my past I have often reserved my meditation on God's Word for when it's guided by the entire church - and honestly, that's not good enough. My daily relationship with God is as important as my participation in worship with the body.
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Because here's the thing - if I'm not making sure my daily walk with God is focused and purposeful - if my eyes stray from Him to other distractions throughout the week - I won't be able to worship in the spirit I'm instructed to. I will find myself thinking about lunch rather than the body of Christ during the communion, looking at the time instead of listening, and scrolling my Facebook during the reading of the Scriptures. •
Discipleship will cost our whole lives, not just our Sundays. And if we give Him anything less than our whole lives, we will find even the one-hour worship of Him dreary. To truly give Him our heart on Sundays, He must always have our heart. To really give Him our devotion during worship, He must always have our devotion. Anything less than everything is not enough - and we will always find ourselves dissatisfied with God and His way when we aren't seeking Him. •
The more we give to Him, the more we crave what He has to give, the more we sacrifice - the more satisfying His way will become. Christianity is giving everything to gain far more than we could ever give.
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But everything must first be given - whole-heartedly, without reserve, every day. "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it" (Luke 9:23-24). •
📖 What tools and strategies help you with your daily, spiritual discipline? •
#herlifehisway
When I met my husband, he was not the guy I was looking for.
Quietly confident with a goofy sense of humour, an intense love for dogs, no mind for fashion, an extreme thriftiness, a hatred for coffee and Lord of the Rings, and a collection of favourite movies that shared none of my tastes - he was pretty much the opposite of me and everything I was looking for - except for that he was incredibly smart. This was something I had always wanted in a man. It wasn't something we had in common (he is a lot smarter than I am!), it was just something I found attractive.
We really only had one thing in common - our faith.
I was always of the opinion that the one I love would have to have heaps in common with me - that if we had nothing in common at would run out of things to say and do and life would be miserable.
I was so dead wrong. He is such an amazing husband, and (though it sounds cliche, it's true) my best friend. We had nothing in common, but we've grown things in common. We've become that couple that does everything together and finishes each other's sentences. He even learnt to like coffee for me. ☕♥️ No, we don't always agree. But I can promise, if you find a man whose faith is strong and who truly loves God more than he loves you - you'll be loved more than you could ever have imagined possible. The man who follows Christ closely loves God more than anything and the wife God gives him more than life, because that's how Jesus teaches Him to love.
And the most beautiful thing about this love? It'll bring you closer together, yes, but even no more than that - it'll let you catch a glimpse of Christ, and how incredibly beautiful it is to be loved wholly, forgiven frequently, and given grace freely.
Above all else, when looking for a partner, look for a man who loves Christ more than you and then pursue Christ together. The love that comes from a relationship life that will always carry you onwards and upwards: closer to God and closer together - all the way to Heaven.
#herlifehisway #9years
