Ok guys,
So here is my first "God" post. I'm just going to start out by giving you guys a little background in my relationship with the creator of EVERYTHING. So My great grandma is a godly woman and she expected all her kids and grand kids to be in church on Sunday mornings. So I was practically at IHBC right after I entered this earth. I grew up in church every Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. If there was an event I was at it. I was in children's choir. I grew up with some awesome kids! I grew up knowing my ABC's of being a christian, I knew where to find any book in the bible, and I had just about every hymn memorized. We had a revival when I was 11. My sister lived with her mom at the time and so we were on our way to take her home one night and my mom started talking to us about asking Jesus to come into our hearts. She explained to us that the only way to heaven was to accept Jesus and ask to be forgiven. She also told us that if we were to die we wouldn't get to go to heaven. None of this was new to us of course, but for some reason it just stuck in my brain! The next night at revival my sister and I both accepted Jesus into our hearts and I will never forget that night. We had a little pie fellowship get together and I went in to tell my great grandma and I just burst out crying. I think that was the first time the holy spirit really started working in me. I was crying tears of joy and relief. It was just this knowledge that Satan could still tempt me but he could NEVER have me! I remember going to school and telling EVERYONE about my decision. I wasn't afraid.. I wasn't ashamed and life was SO wonderful.
My middle school days were pretty innocent. then high school hit. I feel for teens these days because its totally different now just 6 years later than it was for me. It was so easy to fall into all sorts of temptations because I had that little devil sitting on my shoulder saying " it's ok Brittany, You know you'll be forgiven. Your young, you can get your life right later." I still went to church every time the doors were open but I don't think my mind was there. When it was I was busy taking the bible out of context and I would tell my self that that part doesn't apply to me, or that it's all ok because I'm just a teen. The summer before my senior year I went through my first heartbreak and it just so happened to be on a Wednesday night. I went to youth and Timmy had just started as the youth minister. That night he was talking about God's unconditional love and boy did it hit me like a rock! It certainly woke me up. I'm not going to say I went back to being little miss religious because I didn't. 7 years later I still make mistakes! Even after being in church for 24 years I have so much to learn. If a person tells you they know EVERYTHING there is to know about God, the Bible, and Christianity.. they are a liar! You can read the Bible a million times and I guarantee you, you will learn something new. I tried for years to sit down every day and read my bible. I told myself I would do it every morning. HA then I woke up late, or I had things to get done before school or work. I decided that that needed to change.I got a devotional bible and I started reading my bible every night before bed, no ifs, ands or buts.
The 2 areas I have problems with are praying and tithing. I always start praying right after reading my bible, but before I know it it's 7 a.m. and I'm waking up. I realized something, I shouldn't just pray after reading my bible at night. I should pray every time I wake up in the morning. I should pray every time I turn on my shower and water comes out, every time I open my fridge and there is food there. Every time I get to work because I have a job. I've been blessed SO much and I do not deserve it. Thank God he doesn't give us what we deserve!!!
Tithing is my other problem area. I always plan on tithing.. but as always the devil gets in the way. We will be running late for church and not have time to take cash out. Or I will get to church and not have a pen to write a check. Sometimes it's just because my bank account is low and I'm worried we wont get by. Yesterday at church we had a guest speaker who told us we should be reading our bible everyday, tithing, and praying. So hey I heard it yesterday ( the first time I had tithed in a while). Last night I was in my closet and I saw an old devotional so I picked it up and opened up to yesterdays date. Any guess what the topic was??? TITHING! Oh and just in case the message wasn't clear enough for me.. my phone kept reminding me to read my bible app for the day... what are the odds that it was also about tithing! It is amazing how God's messages are all around us..We just need to open our ears!! After all these years I'm still learning. I'm still growing, and I'm still doing things wrong! I'm thankful that I have a God who still loves me despite how stubborn I can be. I'm thankful that God is merciful and doesn't give me what I deserve. I'm also thankful that only God knows my limits and He will NEVER put me through anything I cannot handle. It's not always easy, but He never said it would be!
Well that was fun :) I hope you guys enjoyed reading this post!
-Bri Sosa
