Accomplishments and Achievements

(The poem I intended to post on Monday needed a bit more work, therefore it has been scheduled to Wednesday. In case you wondered what happened to it. 😉)

For me, it’s easy for a feeling of accomplishment to be an addiction that gets out of hand and turns into sin.

Finishing a level of Candy Crush and seeing the little girl cheering? Yup. I could play for HOURS. And having it on my iPod… now I see how easy it is to be addicted to a phone. I could carry the gaming addition wherever I went (that has WiFi).

Whenever there was a contest, I was waaaaaaaaay too focused on winning. I’d play for hours to win.

And this win led me to play for HOURS because I didn’t want to waste my prize. (Yes I took screenshots of my wins… I rediscovered them recently and cringed. I was THAT proud of my wins. 😅)

I had to offload all four games from the Candy Crush franchise from my iPod, and I may delete them completely soon.

After reading this post from my friend TR (Accomplishments Becoming An Idol), I realized just how deep this went. Accomplishments and achievements had a hold on me.

Accomplishment – level 13 on Memrise.

This achievement lost on Duolingo upset me more than it should have. I almost considered buying “plus” so I could fix it but… would it be worth it, just for that? The point was, I was learning Spanish. And I still am.

Progress is being made. If I miss a day, does it really matter? One day? Does the streak matter, or does the learning?

And when it comes to Candy Crush, I realized something…

When I stand before God, will this matter?

“God, I didn’t spend that much time with You and I’m sorry. I didn’t have a lot of free time.”

“What about all those hours playing games, child? You did have time.”

“…I was top of the leaderboard. That counts for something, right?”

Wrong.

Would He be proud of these achievements and accomplishments?

That’s probably a no.

Learning a new language has a point. Being able to speak to more of His children. But the games, even though they are so fun and addicting… weren’t worth the hours put into it.

I must admit, this achievement felt good. But I’m trying not to let it become an idol. I don’t use the website every day. On Duolingo, I have the streak freeze activated so if I do skip a day, I don’t lose my streak, but I’m also really enjoying the learning process there (they have Duolingo Stories which I really enjoy alongside their Spanish lessons), so I rarely skip a day. That’s why my streak is back into the 80s… 😅 I keep telling myself it’s not the numbers and if I lose this streak, I won’t be upset. It’s a struggle sometimes but:

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

I don’t want to get trapped in the snares of accomplishments and achievements; I want to run the race and keep my eyes on Jesus, my Prize. He is worth it! ❤

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He Is Divine, We Are His Branches | A Gospel Study

Humankind was first created to grow into branches. However, the first branches decided that they knew better than the Creator by partaking in something that they were forbidden to do, and thus, tore themselves away from the Tree of Life. They tried to become trees and planted themselves in sin instead.

After this, the offspring of the branches started off tainted. These seeds naturally desired what was dark, leaving their leaves splotched, their branches mottled, their roots rotting. Weeds and thorns grew around them, choking their start, causing them to be thin and pale.

They were destined to die.

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They could not save themselves in their own power. Hard as they tried to reach the heavens alone, they were not able to reach beyond the snares and weeds that surrounded them. 

So the Creator sent His own seed to be planted in the earth – blemish free. He grew in wisdom and stature. 

Only this One could save them by reconnecting them to the Tree. The One Who had the Sap of Life flowing through His branches. He gave Himself to die in their place, for any and all who would accept His sacrifice as Truth. They had to have beleaf. (Belief –  couldn’t help myself, sorry. 😆)

He became our Grafter.

The only way that the trees could live was to give up their lives to the Tree. Allow themselves to be cut down, the most painful process. Allow themselves to be lovingly picked up afterward, and grafted onto the Parent tree. Allow the Life from the Parent Tree to flow into them. Become instead of self trees, become humility trees. Or Humilitrees. (I couldn’t resist sorry. 🤣) Otherwise known as… branches.

In this way, the Creator Tree pulled His creation from the death that was the fireplace.

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And after they were grafted, they thought they could stay in the Holy Tree’s trunk by producing fruit of their own stick-power. The limbs had not fully grafted yet – they had not accepted that they were branches and had nothing apart from the Divine. In doing so, their connection to the Sap was compromised, and their fruit was rotten and stinky before the Creator.

Only One could strengthen them to bear good fruit. The Tree of Life. The fruit of this Tree was holy, just, merciful, loving, all-knowing, all-seeing, and wonderful.

Only then could any of the traits of the Parent Tree flow into these young saplings. They welcomed the sap. They welcomed the Holy Sap into their limbs and into themselves, glad that they were no longer the dying tree bound for death. They accepted that in their own power, they had no power, but the fruit that came from Him was living and fresh before the Lord.

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And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. (Luke 2:52)

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Isaiah 64:6

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” (John 5:5-8)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:2-3)

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Hello and welcome to whatever this was! 🤣 This spawned out of a Gospel study with Olivia at Refreshing Spirit. There are 34 parts to this study, and there will be notes and more stories like this whenever we finish a part. The theme for this was The Condition of the Soul. This was inspired by the verses I shared above. 😊

I Am Thine

Photo by Trinity Kubassek from Pexels

I’m Thy beloved sheep;
My woolen coat is to be white.
Thy Word I am to keep,
And walk in the path of right.

But my atrocious sins
Made my wool scarlet
As shameful swine’s skin;
Disgraceful as I could get.

But with Thy blood
That was lovingly shed,
Thee, my caring God,
Paid for me instead.

You faithfully sought me
And I am no longer mine;
You lovingly bought me,
Lord, my God, I am Thine!

Photo Credit: Hyssop

Psalm 51:7: Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Island of Peace

I’m traveling on the open sea
In this rickety boat,
Hoping to stay afloat,
Wondering if it’s the end of me.

This life is this vast ocean,
Wearing us down,
Tearing us down –
Trying to drown us in sin.

I have heard of a refuge of calm.
I really want to get there,
But cannot find it anywhere –
No land to be seen, not even a palm.

Jesus is the Island of Peace.
I did not have to look,
I just had to open a Book –
Oh, will His wonders ever cease?

Once I had read it carefully,
It was quite clear,
He was always here –
Waiting patiently on the shore for me!

There are times I may drift away;
Because of a storm of sin.
But He welcomes me again –
And in His loving arms, I shall stay.

**Special thanks to Denny (his blog is here) for unintentionally inspiring this with the comment I linked to. 😊

Be My Guide (a reblog)

In response to the Daily Post prompt Abide, here is a poem I posted back in September: 🙂

Following Him Beside Still Waters

It seems that with this one, I wanted to see how many times I could rhyme with “guide” and still have a poem that makes sense. XD All joking aside, here is another poem with a very different rhyming pattern. A couple of lines near the middle is based on 2nd Cor:5:17 (Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.) and a couple of lines near the end is based on Gal:2:20 (I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.)

Hope y’all have a great weekend! ♥

Be My Guide

In this wicked world, I abide

It…

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Jericho Heart

Jericho Heart

Around my heart, I had built walls
I thought no one could get in
But just like Jericho’s, it falls
As the Lord comes to cleanse
Of all ungodliness and sin

Similar to this heart of mine
The city was finally relieved
Of all filth, uncleanliness, and grime
Except for Rahab, who believed
Everything else within had to leave

She feared the Almighty Lord
So she and her family were spared
Like the love for His Word
Is saved inside my soul with care
And it is protected in there

My soul is exposed now
My Savior can come inside
And my love can flow out
Now that my heart is open wide
It no longer feels that it has to hide

Besides giving Him access
Into my cityscape
It gave sin and sadness
A way to escape
As my heart is reshaped

As Joshua cursed that city,
And all evil things therein,
Only Rahab’s house lived to see.
My Savior defeated death and sin
All the wickedness banished within

So I must be utmost meticulous
Not to let the walls rebuild
And allow my loving Jesus
To reside inside me and fill
Me with His grace and mercy still

The high, thick walls will tumble
As a sledgehammer, take the Sword of the Spirit
To make sure the walls stays crumbled,
And the city stays down, and sin exits;
With Him by my side, I can do it!

“The feeling of emptiness, and depression, the feeling of nothing. The walls I’ve built so high up, the ones that were supposed to protect me, to keep me from feeling anything, leave me with no way out. They trap me and I don’t know what to do. Suddenly, any joy I did have is completely gone, any satisfaction I did have was replaced with longing for more of something—anything.

“Come to Me and I will give you rest.”

There is something working in me. I am tempted to resist but whatever spoke to me is far stronger. He is worth it. He is worth everything I own. He is worth my body, my soul, my mind, my heart.” – Incorrigibly Cheerful

How right this is. Not only do the walls keep out Jesus, but they keep in sin, pain, and everything that is not good; things that God does not want in one’s heart. Try as hard as we might, nothing in this world can replace having Jesus in the heart.

My walls had to come down. And that wasn’t an easy task; especially since every time part of them fell, it would try to reconstruct. And the city was the hardest part. Even with the walls down, it’s a fight to keep structures from popping back up inside. I have to repeatedly grab the Sword of the Spirit and use it like a sledgehammer to knock them back down! 🙂

Thank you, Incorrigibly Cheerful, for inspiring this. 🙂
P.S.: To read Incorrigibly Cheerful’s post in its entirety, click the link at the end of the quote; it is really awesome and worth the read. 😉

Images credits: First image, shutterstock, second image shutterstock, third image Pixabay.