Eighteen

Yesterday was my 18 year spiritual birthday!  Eighteen years ago I realized that I was a sinner and needed to be saved from my sins.  I realized that the only way I could be right with God and have a relationship with Him was to accept Jesus as my Savior.  And so I did.  In the bathroom in my dorm as a freshman in college.

I was going to let yesterday pass as just a day to celebrate, me and Jesus.  But today I realized that 18, while not an even number, is a significant number.  18 years as a believer means that I have been a child of God for half of my life!  That is so crazy to wrap my little bitty brain around.

So, in honor of 18 years, I thought I'd offer you some Scriptural truths as gifts for your soul today.

1 John 3:1--"How great it he love the Father lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.  And that is what we are!"  This is my favorite Bible verse, because I am so undeserving of God's love and yet He lavishes it on me.  I love the word lavished.  I think it is so descriptive.

Psalm 20:7--"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."  This was the first verse I ever memorized.

Psalm 145:3--"Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom."  Can you imagine something so great that you can't even fathom it?  Talk about having a brain too itty bitty to understand!

Philippians 1:6--"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  God has a plan for me and will carry it on to completion.  He won't give up on me!

Colossians 3:2--"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."  This is one of my greatest struggles--becoming too focused on my circumstances and giving in to the emotions of the moment.

Hebrews 4:16--"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."  There is that word confident again.  Christ gives me confidence.  And God is not a Got that is far off, but He wants me to approach Him with my wants, needs, and desires.

Psalm 141:3--"Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." Not necessarily a touchy-feely verse, but one that I pray for myself often.  Don't let me speak what will be hurtful to others.  And, O, how often I have to repent when I don't follow through on this verse!

I could go on and on, and I probably should list 18 verses, one for each year, but I don't want you to overlook the treasures in these verses, so I'm going to stop here!  Thank you to all those who God has placed in my life over the last 18 years who have encouraged me to seek truth and trust in God!