This is the Promises of God Podcast and I’m your host, Tracie Rollins. This podcast is about you, your ability to hear and believe and take action on God’s promises in your life because all of God’s promises are yes and amen. Resources mentioned in today’s episode can be found on PromisesofGodPodcast.com. Now, let’s get started.
Welcome back to the Promises of God Podcast, episode number 18. My name is Tracie Rollins. Thank you so much for spending time with me as we learn and take action on God’s promises in life. This month series is about grace, and we’re working out of the momentum devotional offered by BibleJournalingMinistries.com in this one’s titled Saved by Grace. You can learn more about Bible journaling with our free 10-day course BibleJournalingMinistries.Com. Today we’re focusing on the
Three years ago, if you would’ve asked me if I’d be writing devotionals every month doing this, doing a podcast, writing a blog, I really would have laughed at you. I was heavily focused on my marketing business at the time, and I had little time for anything else. I had clients that had to have work done. I had writing that had to be done, social media. I had meetings to attend, and I had just quit my job as a full-time marketer for a software company, so for years I had worked a full-time job and then worked a side Gig to build up my small business on the side until I would leave the corporate job and do my side gig, and I had just left that job and so now I felt like, okay, I didn’t have to work two jobs and now I could just have one job in life would be a little bit easier. Well, God had a different plan. The first time God brought Bible journaling to the forefront of my mind, I pushed it away. I did ignore it. I, I was like, um, yeah. Okay. So people are drawing in their bibles. It’s not interesting to me. I just, it was the way I approached it was pretty negative. I didn’t even give it more than I think two seconds worth of thought. I truly pushed it out of my head and out of the forefront of my mind. Sure. I knew how to journal in my Bible. I wrote in my Bible quite a bit. Um, I even doodled in it occasionally and especially in my dad’s Bible when I was little, and paint in it. No Way. I am not an artist. I didn’t take a lot of art classes. I’m not a theologian. I didn’t go to seminary school. I, I’m just not the person that God needs to do this Bible journaling thing and to teach others. Plus how can I keep the lights on my house without my business? I was going to go and venture into something I knew little about and didn’t feel confident in doing it, and I just sat for a little bit.
I remember one day getting out of bed. This was a few months after he had first laid it on my heart that I should consider doing this. I remember one day getting out of bed and just feeling compelled by the Holy Spirit to open up my Bible and Bible Journal, and I didn’t know anything about it, and there was hardly anything on the Internet to share with me that I could use, but I just opened up my bible and started reading it, and it was the very first time in my life that the words in the Bible began coming alive. They began speaking to my heart. I remember the verse. I remembered everything about that particular verse that I was writing, and then I remembered it later on, and I immediately called my husband at work, and he must’ve thought I was crazy, but I told him what I had done. I texted him a picture of it and told him how much it impacted me. Not only did I understand the Bible because I was able to slowly get into it, and take the time to, you know, engage with it creatively. Just a lot different than a Bible study, but I was able to enjoy it. I mean, usually, in the past studying the Bible has been work for me. I’ll be honest with you. It hasn’t been fun. Sometimes it’s been quite worrying, but this time with Bible journaling, I was excited. I loved it, and I couldn’t wait to do it again. This, this heart was just filled with joy and I knew that God wanted me to do more and so I kept waiting on him to instruct me a little bit further and he would give me things and then I would seek wise counsel from other people to make sure I was hearing things right and just work through the process.
But over time his grace will teach me to trust him. I mean, why was I so busy building my empire that I left his in disrepair Didn’t I already have what I needed What more did I want God wouldn’t allow me to push him away. He kept lingering in my heart until one day the Holy Spirit got to me and that the time that I was sharing with you when I woke up and immediately it was on my heart. I remember getting down on my knees and then that wasn’t good enough, so I laid down entirely on the floor just crying because I’m like, how could you possibly want me to do to teach people This is. I am a marketer. I’m an engineer. I’m not an apostle. I’m not an anyone that can share your word, and I had quite a few people come back and explain to me that I’m pretty sure that you have what he needs if he’s calling you, and he did. So ever since then, I’ve been working hard. I’ve gone to some classes. I’m getting a ministry certificate. I’ve done a ton of art classes. I consider myself quite an artist now. I’m actually an illustrator and I have a lot of fun with what I’m doing, but it would not have come without God’s grace.
So as you think about God and what he has for you, how has he transformed you You can tell from for me. He’s transformed me significantly. I know more about the Bible today. Then I knew a few years ago before I started Bible journaling ministries. I know more about art. I know I feel more at peace. I conserve more. I am exactly where he wants me to be, but I’ll tell you what, I’m not the woman I was a year ago. I’m not the woman I was a month ago. I’m not even the woman I was a day ago. Every day brings more challenges and new opportunities to learn and grow, and believe me, those challenges are not always easy. God’s unmerited favor is made possible by Jesus’s pure self-sacrifice, but God’s grace doesn’t just save us from sin. It teaches us and transforms us. If you’re here today and you are looking to transform your life for the better, I encourage you to invite God into your life right now.
If you know the love of God in your life, but you’ve strayed a bit and feel like you’re not growing and not being transformed, come back to God. You’re not promised tomorrow and life is so short. Don’t put it off. Romans 6:23 says, the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus, our Lord. So turn to him, confess your sins, follow his will, and receive that grace. You will feel the love of Christ that surpasses all understanding. Thank you so much for tuning in today. I’m excited to talk to you more about grace in the next episode of the Promises of God Podcast. Goodbye.
Thanks for listening to the Promises of God Podcast. This podcast is sponsored by Bible Journaling Ministries where thousands of women grow in the word creatively. It’s your free 10-day course for other ministries and other episodes resources at the PromisesofGodPodcast.com.
