Flourishing

Monday, November 17th, 2025

5 pm

Good evening! I hope you have had a good day today. Mine was pretty good, but I was tired for most of the day. Tired enough that I ended taking a nap during my lunch break. I don't know why I was so tired because I slept really good last night. Just one of those days I guess. Other than that though, it was a good day.

This morning, I was still in the same verses as the last couple of days, in the notes sections still. The notes are so good though, I don't like just skipping over them, and I journal when I study, so it tends to take me awhile some times to get through a section. Just like I said the other day, its not a competition of how much can I read in a day, but am I taking the time for God to speak to me. Giving Him the time and space He needs. My study time with God is my time, its not about anyone else but God, so I don't want to rush. And honestly I don't have tons of time in the morning, so I can only get so far. That doesn't matter though, because God can speak to you in just one verse, and He may want you to dive into that one verse, and not the whole chapter. It's all about what God is showing you personally. It's not a competition, and it's not about what others are doing, it's about you and God, no one else in that moment.

The notes in my Bible says that John was a true prophet from God. We can see that from the very beginning of his mother's pregnancy of him, for he was a gift from God that they weren't expecting. But John lived a life that was set apart from from those around him at the time. He was so different that people were fascinated by him and the message he was giving. So they went to see him and hear him. He even went to the extreme of calling out the religious leaders and officials at the time. But his message was the same for the high up people as it was to the common people. Turn from their sins and repent, and show by the way you live that you have truly repented. This message is something we all have to remind ourselves of. As a Christian we are called to live a different type of life than that of the people of the world.

When we accept that Jesus paid the ultimate price to save us, we need to live a life that is changed. So much so that when people look at who we were in the past, they wonder what happened to you. What caused you to give up the sin you were living in that you seemed to really enjoy, for a life of rules, as what people of the world would say. But the new life that Jesus offers us is so amazing, allowing us to live a life to the fullest. Because those rules that He gives us to follow actually help us live a better life. A life we could never had imagined. That life is the life God has created us for. A life where we flourish as the child God created us to be.

Are you flourishing in your life? Flourishing looks different for all of us, because God called us each uniquely. Our lives don't look the same, and they are not supposed to. But as Christians, Christ followers, we are to live a life that reflects Jesus. And this world does not reflect Jesus. Look at John. It may not seem like it to us, but John was flourishing in the life God called him to. He lived freely in the wilderness with no one or nothing to hinder him. His faith was in the God who created him, and blessed him with everything he needed. Not feeling the need to compare himself to the world around him. That's what freedom truly feels like. Living like the person God created you to be without fear of what this world can do to you. God wants us to live that way. Live for Him and Him alone. The more you spend time with Him, the more He will show you who He created you to truly be.