ROAD to 31 Devotional - Day 8 - "Go Outside With Me"

Listen to "Outside" from my new mixtape https://m.soundcloud.com/jeannie-ortega-2/outside-new

We all grow up in our own little bubbles and ideas of the world. We take what we learn from our parents or guardians who learned what they know from their parents or guardians. But we all get to a point in our lives where we decide whether our childhood worldview will shape the rest of our lives or whether or not there may be more to life. At the age of 21, I had done everything I ever wanted to. I had a gold record at radio, I was touring the world, I had fame and money, could have whoever and whatever I wanted but still had no inner peace, no idea of what my purpose was besides living this selfish American Dream, until someone introduced me to the lover of my soul.

Matthew 16:26 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?"

Once I discovered that Jesus could reach deeper than anything I ever tried to fill my voids with, I journeyed into discovering my purpose in Him. I realized that would require me to go OUTSIDE of the box of majority. That way of thinking would take me outside of all I was used to – Outside of comfortability, outside of tradition and the norm, my way of living became elevated because no longer was I living for myself or mere mortals but for an eternal God and purpose.

Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

My decision to go beyond what I knew and believed, set me on a path that not many who loved me were willing to go. But I couldn't trade it because for the first time ever, I had found a peace that surpassed understanding, I felt free and knew only I could limit all God had set out for me. For a time, I had to be ok with leaving it all behind and going outside on my own.

Matthew 19:29 "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life."

God never wanted me to desert my family and friends like some preachers use this scripture to say, He just wanted me to know that if it came to that, because no one would follow Him, that I would be blessed. The Bible says we must all work out our own salvation with God and because its such a life-changing step, it often feels like a lonely one. But when you gain your footing you see sometimes people just needed to see someone else brave enough to go outside before they too can step out ❤

Matthew 4:19 "And he said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.'"