Friday's with Stacy-- "Where the Rubber Meets the Road"

A new feature on this blog is Friday's with Stacy. Stacy is the wonderful blogger at Daily Surrender to Jesus and will be posting here every Friday. I'm so happy to have her! She is a sweet lady with a huge heart.

~Kelly

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Hello friends,

Just a quick introduction because I may be a new voice for some of you… 

I’m Stacy. Passionate about Jesus. Heart-broken for orphans. Grateful for grace. Thrilled to be able to start sharing my heart with you here on Encourage365 each Friday.

I admire Kelly and her heart for the Lord, as well as her faithful commitment to share her heart on this blog daily for the last year.  I must be forthcoming with you all… Even a weekly blogging commitment seems a bit huge to me. Like my new commitment to share here each Friday for example. Huge. Exciting. And a tad bit scary perhaps. I may have to pull out my “Rescue me, I’m drowning.” card every now and then which Kelly has assured me I can use if I need to. J She’s so very gracious. Pray for me friends, (mostly because I’m the mom of 5 boys and that alone is enough to warrant a request for prayer, right? but also…) because I long to faithfully speak words of truth and grace in every opportunity I’m given.

I’m so blessed by this opportunity.

So may I start off today by simply telling you all a little about my own heart, and my own walk with the Lord? …

I cling tightly to the grace of God because his grace changes me and I desperately want to be changed into His likeness.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3:12 NIV

I know I will find this transformation in the midst of the truth of His Word, and so I am convinced of my need to seek Him in His Word, every day.

You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 ESV

Seek Him in His Word, and seek Him in prayer. I’m an advocate of prayer. Prayer changes things. Prayer draws us closer to our savior.

Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Matthew 6:9-13 ESV

Jesus gave this model for prayer, and as he taught his disciples he spoke of the need for our prayer to come from a heart that is genuine, sincere, authentic, without hypocrisy. I love to get to the heart of things.

I also believe that the Word of God is practical and applicable as much as it is spiritual and poetic and profound. So I don’t want to let the poetic wording dance across my eyes without allowing it to sink in and change me. I look at the Word and ask… What does this look like “where the rubber meets the road”?  You know, how do I apply it? And I’m grateful when the Lord shows me practical applications such as this…

P= Praise: Recognition of who God is, (He is our creator, our sustainer, and provider. He is holy, loving, wise, sovereign, etc.) and recognition of His blessings in our lives; giving thanks for His faithfulness. (Hallowed be your name. Matthew 6:9)

R= Repent: Recognition of who we are and our great need; a sincere examination of our hearts, and confession of sin. (Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Matthew 6:12)

A= Ask: We do not have because we do not ask. Go boldly before His throne and lay bare the requests of your heart. (Give us this day our daily bread. Deliver us from evil. Matthew 6:11 and 13)

Y= Yield: To relinquish, surrender, or submit. To make sure we are asking with right motives and a heart that says…  “Though I may ask for this cup to be taken from me, not my will, but yours be done Lord.”  Yielding to the will of God is vital.  We yield because we trust. (Your will be done. Matthew 6:10)

“His will, not mine” is the voice of my personal blog, Daily Surrender to Jesus. Because surrender, or yielding to God’s will; loving Him with our whole hearts and trusting His plans for our life, that, my friends, will bring forth love, peace, joy, and hope.

So this is a small sample of my heart. I hope you will choose to meet me here on Fridays and allow me to continue sharing more with you. I look forward to getting to know you all better as well. In fact, I feel compelled to include a link, perhaps each week, to one or two of your posts that spoke to my heart this week. God bless you friends!

Shared from my heart ~ Stacy

A little weekend reading? Visit…

 You Can’t Take it With You

 How Big Are Your Legs?


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A Note From Kelly: Stacy, I can't thank you enough for this and for your commitment to doing this every week (and yeah, even with the 'HELP' card ;) ) You have truly blessed me, friend!!

LINKED WITH: FAITH FILLED FRIDAY @ BEHOLDING GLORY