Hey everyone!
I am writing to you from Lima, Peru and I want to share something with you. I want to share with you why I follow Jesus. Mostly because I do not believe I have done that with many of you who follow this blog or many people at all. I have realized that I have allowed the enemy to tell me that the people around me will not understand my life. I realize this is a risk to share my heart. But I trust in a God that would never allow me to be put to shame. He put this on my heart to share for a reason and I believe it is because he wants to reach out to YOU. Yes you. Soak it in and enjoy hearing the beauty of following Jesus. Give what I am saying a shot. Allow your perspectives to shift for a moment.
I follow Jesus simply because he came to this earth to save me. He came to save you too! God sent down his son Jesus to be tempted by the devil( Matthew 4:1-11), to live a perfect life(Matthew,Mark,Luke and John show this) and then to die for us so that our sins would be washed away and we would be made pure and whole in his name. He died so we could have eternal life with Him. He is our savior. He died for us and he defeated death and rose again. He ascended into heaven and then the Lord gave us Holy Spirit(Acts 2:2-4). Holy Spirit dwells inside of us and we get to chose if we want to experience him or not. Holy Spirit is our guide and he helps us become more like Jesus. Jesus loves you and I so much that he wanted to erase all of our sin and suffer a painful death on the cross so that we could live a life full of forgiveness from the Father. We never have to feel shame because Jesus literally took that to the cross so we do not have to bear it. That is some good news!
I follow Jesus because he does not cast judgement (John 8:11, John 3:17). We do not have to be perfect to follow Jesus. That is the beauty of the gospel for me. I do not have to be anybody but myself and God weaves through my heart and removes all of the things that are not of him. I get to live a life with him free of striving. I do not have to try to do better because I do not have to do anything. The Lord does all the work. As Matthew 7:7 says “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” All I have to do is ask. The Lord then provides! He shapes and molds my heart to change and be more like him. It is truly beautiful. I am honored to be his and to be shifted by Him. I want nothing else on this world then to be more like Him and it is so comforting knowing all I have to do is ask. I do not have to do it on my own. Following God takes all the pressure off of us to perform and allows us to put the pressure on him and put our trust in him. Which because he is always faithful, it builds our trust in him.
All of this goes to say that my lifestyle that I live might look a little different but I am proud of the life I live now. I am proud of the changes that have come in my life through God and God alone. I have not become this woman I am today on my own and I know it is only by Gods Grace that I have the opportunities and life that I live. I will give my life forever to God. Whatever he wants from me he can have. I choose to die to my flesh every day and I am not ashamed of this life I live. Glory be to God for all the days of my life!
Thank you all for reading and I hope you have learned something new! Thanks for following my journey and supporting me. I love y’all!!
Hannah Kraus that is beautiful! I love the woman you are becoming and the way that God is moving through your life. I will be missing you this holiday season But I am comforted knowing that you are doing amazing things in this world and bringing love and comfort to others. I love you so much Merry Christmas “Little girl aka Lid”
Merry Christmas to a wonderful young woman. We are proud of you and wish you and the hearts you touch in your travels a blessed holiday and hope it pays forward into the new year. Love you lots kiddo. ??????
Hannah,
Thank you for the post so many of us need that. Especially during this holiday season. I was just telling your Mom yesterday, I didn’t see a post from you in a little while. I woke up and there was your post to everyone. You are a wonderful writer, deep with your thoughts. I can only imagine how many lives you are touching. We miss you at Christmas. Love to you!
Posted hearts but came out question marks? We love ya Aunt Amy and Uncle Doug
Absolutely amazing i miss your voice and spirit already
Hannah, we are missing you but are grateful that you have this opportunity. I pray that you will enjoy Jesus’ birthday even though you are far away. Love you.
whatever he wants he can have. come on
Wow…what a beautiful ,faith filled young woman, out doing great things and spreading the word of God! You are living the true meaning of Christmas! Have a blessed holiday and know that we are praying for you and all of the great work you are doing in Jesus name!??????
Ignore the question marks at the end! Lol
You give me chills.
Leave no doubt!!
Hannah I am beyond proud of you. Knowing you since you were in 7th grade…I love seeing the growth you have had In our Lotd. Please see me when you get home. I love you!!
Thanks mom i love you!!!
Thank you so much!! Merry Christmas and happy new year! Love you both !!
Wow I love that you were just wondering when i would post next! Thank you very much. I miss you aunt Hilary. Merry Christmas! Xoxo
Miss u suds ;(( te quiero mucho
Thank you Jen!! I miss you dearly. Merry Christmas to you I hope you enjoy your time with family! I love you
Thank you very much!! Merry Christmas to you both!!
Thank you so much!! I love you too!! Merry Christmas and happy new year. I would love nothing more then to see you when i am home
Hi, sorry I am a couple days late and a dollar short of your blog posts… BUT, I am so proud to call you a best friend. You are serving people in distant areas of the Earth, all according to His plan. You are such a beautiful person inside and out. The Lord is using you as a vessel in certain ways because YOU CAN do anything He calls you to do. Even if that means you are uncomfortable at first. You are strong. You are brave. You are a servant. You are displaying what a disciple of Jesus looks like and that it is not always easy. Your will to follow the Lord will ripple through every place you visit; there is beauty in the unknown of what will happen after you leave a place or person. Keep on keepin’ on, Hannah.