Day 16: Danielle Yang
“In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:4-5
It has taken me weeks to find the words to boast in that which the Lord has done for me, revealed to me, and strengthened in me in this new year. Every time I sit down to write, words fail me. In the end, these are what remain –
“Heal my heart and make it clean Open up my eyes to the things unseen Show me how to love like You have loved me Break my heart for what breaks Yours Everything I am for the Kingdom’s cause.” – Hosanna, Hillsong
Heal my heart and make it clean. In the words of Psalms, create in me a clean heart. As we draw closer to God, He will draw closer to us. For light cannot co-dwell with darkness, and we must continue to empty our inherently sinful selves so that He can fill us with the wonder of His goodness. Less of me, and more of Him.
Open up my eyes to the things unseen. I’ve walked into homes for EMS calls and immediately felt a dark, suffocating presence – only to look around and see symbols or idols of evil on the walls. In those moments, I am eternally grateful for the Lord’s protection and for His discernment, reminded of the importance of sharpening my sword – which is the Word of God – and to remain vigilant in prayer. Our battle isn’t against flesh and blood, and when we fight on our knees, we win every time.
Show me how to love like You have loved me. I often tell God that I love too deeply to work in medicine, because patients are people to me and all I want to do is love them, grieve with them, and fix them. But as broken people, we cannot fix those that are broken. Our human love will never be enough. But praise God! For He is love, and in Him is the light of all mankind.
Break my heart for what breaks Yours. It is so easy to make light of sin. But if we do not recognize, hate, and turn from sin for what it is, we are making light of the blood of Christ. Sin nailed Jesus to the cross. Sin tears us from the love of God. Sin shrouds us in eternal darkness. But God!
God loved us while we were still running from Him, and He did not hesitate to: not because we deserved it, but because we didn’t deserve it. He pursued us, He paid the price for us, and He wanted us when we didn’t even want ourselves. That’s His love for us - unconditional, unfathomable, indescribable.
Everything I am for the Kingdom’s cause. I’ve sometimes questioned God’s calling for my life, not because I don’t trust Him or believe in His omnipotent power, but because I am afraid that I am not good enough for God. That somehow my humanity blots out my faith. It’s so strange that the things that mold us, shape us, and change us are the very things that break us. And the things that we are made to do become the hardest things we will ever do. We fight with death over people we will never win, and people hurt people when they bleed, and there have been many nights I’ve told God, “I can’t do this anymore.”
But God requires complete, ultimate surrender. Everything I am, for the Kingdom. Because He who began a good work in me will carry it on till completion, until the day of Christ Jesus. Surrender, in which He calls, and I go. For what is life apart from Him, and what is living apart from the joy of knowing that once alive in Him, there is no end?
I boast in what is to come. To truly live is to live with heaven in mind, to live with a surrender so deep and a love so vast that it makes the ocean swim.
I boast in the Lord, for He is good and worthy to be praised. Hope has a name, and His name is Jesus.
Prayer
Lord, You alone are good and worthy to be praised. Create in me a clean heart, that my life and everything I am is consecrated to You. Break my heart for what breaks Yours, Lord. Give me eyes to see sin for what it is, strength to turn from it, and a heart to love people the way You love them. God, I surrender everything I am to You. Have Your way in me and through me. Teach me how to love like You. I pray that when people see me, that they see You through me, that everything I am will point others to You. You are life, You are love, and You are so, so good. Thank you, Lord. Amen.
It has taken me weeks to find the words to boast in that which the Lord has done for me, revealed to me, and strengthened in me in this new year. Every time I sit down to write, words fail me. In the end, these are what remain –
“Heal my heart and make it clean Open up my eyes to the things unseen Show me how to love like You have loved me Break my heart for what breaks Yours Everything I am for the Kingdom’s cause.” – Hosanna, Hillsong
Heal my heart and make it clean. In the words of Psalms, create in me a clean heart. As we draw closer to God, He will draw closer to us. For light cannot co-dwell with darkness, and we must continue to empty our inherently sinful selves so that He can fill us with the wonder of His goodness. Less of me, and more of Him.
Open up my eyes to the things unseen. I’ve walked into homes for EMS calls and immediately felt a dark, suffocating presence – only to look around and see symbols or idols of evil on the walls. In those moments, I am eternally grateful for the Lord’s protection and for His discernment, reminded of the importance of sharpening my sword – which is the Word of God – and to remain vigilant in prayer. Our battle isn’t against flesh and blood, and when we fight on our knees, we win every time.
Show me how to love like You have loved me. I often tell God that I love too deeply to work in medicine, because patients are people to me and all I want to do is love them, grieve with them, and fix them. But as broken people, we cannot fix those that are broken. Our human love will never be enough. But praise God! For He is love, and in Him is the light of all mankind.
Break my heart for what breaks Yours. It is so easy to make light of sin. But if we do not recognize, hate, and turn from sin for what it is, we are making light of the blood of Christ. Sin nailed Jesus to the cross. Sin tears us from the love of God. Sin shrouds us in eternal darkness. But God!
God loved us while we were still running from Him, and He did not hesitate to: not because we deserved it, but because we didn’t deserve it. He pursued us, He paid the price for us, and He wanted us when we didn’t even want ourselves. That’s His love for us - unconditional, unfathomable, indescribable.
Everything I am for the Kingdom’s cause. I’ve sometimes questioned God’s calling for my life, not because I don’t trust Him or believe in His omnipotent power, but because I am afraid that I am not good enough for God. That somehow my humanity blots out my faith. It’s so strange that the things that mold us, shape us, and change us are the very things that break us. And the things that we are made to do become the hardest things we will ever do. We fight with death over people we will never win, and people hurt people when they bleed, and there have been many nights I’ve told God, “I can’t do this anymore.”
But God requires complete, ultimate surrender. Everything I am, for the Kingdom. Because He who began a good work in me will carry it on till completion, until the day of Christ Jesus. Surrender, in which He calls, and I go. For what is life apart from Him, and what is living apart from the joy of knowing that once alive in Him, there is no end?
I boast in what is to come. To truly live is to live with heaven in mind, to live with a surrender so deep and a love so vast that it makes the ocean swim.
I boast in the Lord, for He is good and worthy to be praised. Hope has a name, and His name is Jesus.
Prayer
Lord, You alone are good and worthy to be praised. Create in me a clean heart, that my life and everything I am is consecrated to You. Break my heart for what breaks Yours, Lord. Give me eyes to see sin for what it is, strength to turn from it, and a heart to love people the way You love them. God, I surrender everything I am to You. Have Your way in me and through me. Teach me how to love like You. I pray that when people see me, that they see You through me, that everything I am will point others to You. You are life, You are love, and You are so, so good. Thank you, Lord. Amen.
Posted in Boast in the Lord \\\'25
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