Hello 2020!

I started this blog, because for so long I wanted somewhere I could go to that someone would share a word of encouragement with me. Someone that was similar to me. Someone who understood life the same way I did. I just wanted reassurance that I wasn't the only one struggling through this "walk of faith". I wanted someone that wasn't a pastor, someone who wasn't preaching at me. Don't get me wrong whilst I love how solidified pastors are in their journeys their spiritual maturity didn't seem attainable to me at all. I just felt like I was too far off, I wasn't disciplined enough - to put it simply in comparison I felt inadequate.

In the midst of all these feelings, I felt God say very boldly "be the change you want to see", but for a very long time (upon reflection far too long) I silenced this voice and carried on pretending like I hadn't heard anything but at this point, the cycle of self-doubt had already begun. "Grace who do you think you are"  "RESTTT, you're actually doing far too much" "Won't my friends think that I'm doing too much" "I don't want to feel like I'm preaching to people". "Let me completely pattern first then I'll be in a place to share my journey".

I convinced myself that I needed to be perfect, then after I reached this perfection I could listen to God's voice & I'll actually have something worthy of sharing! But the truth is I never will be in this "perfect position" that I conceived in my head. I think that's the point, there's this verse that says "your strengths work best in my weaknesses" yep I came to the realisation that this exactly was the answer to my self-doubt. I don't know what I'm doing, I'm not even qualified to do this but God qualifies the unqualified all I have to do is surrender and say do you know what "I can't do this on my own". 

Long story short, that's why I started this. That's my story. Essentially, I just want this to be a safe place for us to all grow from each other, learn from each other, correct each other etc because the journey of life is one of the most beautiful things ever despite what your belief system is. I just want to be able to document the entirety of the journey, not just the parts I deem to be good but all of it because whilst everything is prone to change I know that I have one constant in my life and that's Jesus Christ. So Today's Word of Encouragement is, what ever your constant is stay strong to it! I know everyone reading this won't be christian but I designed my blog, so it has a bit of everything for everyone because to "live life gracefully" isn't exclusively about God its just about living a life where love is at the centre. We're all in this together! I'm so excited to embark on this journey together (once again) so welcome to "Living Life Gracefully" !

​I'm telling you it feels so strange to be writing again, I'm happy to be back though - it's definitely been far too long but I genuinely felt like there was no better time to come back than the beginning of the year. As cliche as it may sound there is definitely no time like now, that's why I believe its important to go into the year with expectations. Expectations of who you want to become, expectations of how you want to change, expectations of the impact you want to make. Genuinely, your decisions matter now more than ever - its the small things that accumulate and make your future. for a lot of people, the seeds we sow now are essentially the determining factors in our lives so its necessary to make it count.

I'm tired of living life day by day, with God only affecting 27% of it, I'm tired of ignoring the voice of God, I'm tired of getting lost in the motions of life subsequently meaning he's secondary to it. This year I want to quieten down the noise of life and become more sensitive to the spirt. Focus on the things that matter the most, not the momentary - particularly not giving into the desires of the flesh. The enemy uses the flesh as our biggest time waster, the worst bit about it is we don't even realise how much its preventing us from reaching higher heights until we reflect on it.

It's all well and good putting New Years resolution but I believe there are two pivotal counterparts which are often forgotten about a) discipline b) accountability. The former is so important - in any aspect of your life, because lack of discipline in one aspect inevitably causes failure in the next. For me, when my relationship with God is secondary and I'm not disciplined to read my Bible, pray, do devotions etc I loose discipline in all other aspects of my life - friendships, education and literally just anything. Discipline even links with accountability, because you need people to be accountable to in order to make sure you’re disciplined.

So this month, my focus in my devotionals will be how to stay disciplined, the practical step I’ll be taking is to pick a particular topic and to try to understand what it truly means and how it relates to the nature of God. This topic will link to my 1st monthly topic of "Grace". In my next post I’ll explain why the topic is so important to me, but for now I’m going to attach a video about all the new elements that I'm including into the blog, just because some things are better articulated when speaking.

I feel like it’s a really good way to start with your devotion / quiet time especially if you don’t know where to start from. I'm going to trial this and see how it goes because for me I didn't really find that the bible app worked for me, but of course with anything not every shoe fits I just think find the best way for you and stick to it.

Anyway that's all for today but I genuinely can't wait to share my journey of everything that God's got in store for us this year!

Remain Blessed x

Bible Verses Related:

1 Corinthians 9:25 - Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

2 Timothy 1:7 - For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Philippians 4:13 - I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Ephesians 6:10-20 -10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,

20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.