Sunday, September 27, 2009

I am so Blessed!

I am so blessed. Much of the time I am unaware of the blessing I walk in. Often I trudge around, feeling the weight of walking through this life, hardly radiating the joy of the Lord, choosing to dwell on the struggle instead of the blessing. This morning I was irritable. No reason for it, after all it is Sunday and I love Sunday, my girls were home for the weekend and we had a great time together. After church the girls and I were taking the Northwest girls, Nicole and Michelle to lunch like ususal. It was Michelle's birthday and I wanted to give her a great day since she is away from her family so I let her pick where we would go to lunch. She picked Red Robin which is also Melody's favorite and would be a treat. Small problem. It would leave me with almost no money for the week, but I felt a peace about it. My irritation was melting away so I figured God had a plan and that plan included lunch at Red Robin. Nicole called and said that some friends of ours wanted to come along and asked if it were okay which was great. It made for a very pleasant afternoon of fellowship and made Michelle's birthday even more special. After lunch our dear friends insisted on paying for our lunch. I managed to hold it together but nearly burst into tears. What dear friends and what a wonderful God we serve. I had no idea until that moment how stressed I was, which was good, and in that moment all that stress went away as I realized how good our God is and how well He takes care of me. Thank you God for dear friends (Thank you wonderful Shirley family), and for how well you take care of me. We serve such a wonderful God. I am so blessed.

Friday, September 18, 2009

I Need the Spirit

I am convinced that many Christians, including myself, are missing out on the awesome power, direction, and passion that only the Holy Spirit can bring to our lives. I was reading in Acts 2 this afternoon. After the awesome moving of the Holy Spirit the way the believers lived their lives was radically changed. They were singularly focused on the gospel. Peter did not hesitate, along with the other disciples, to preach the good news of the gospel. More telling is how the believers lived.
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
They were devoted to teaching, fellowship, communion, and prayer. Then miracles happened. Happy Christians spending their days together, devoted to fellowship. They shared what they had. Whenever there was a need they filled it, to the point of selling their own possessions! And the Lord added daily. People noticed and people got saved. It's not about doctrine. It's about the power of the Spirit resulting in changed lives that people noticed and wanted. We have an awesome responsibility. We are the representation of Christ for this time in history and we dare not rely on ourselves. I need a fresh outpouring of God's Spirit in my life. My life needs to be open for interruption all of the time. I need to be full of the joy of serving God in spite of difficult circumstances. I need to offer rest for those stressed out and fearful and oppressed by sin. I need to walk in love that can be seen. I need to give and share and give up my possessions with a Holy Spirit willingness. I need more of the Spirit of God so that the Lord will add daily to the church all of those around us that need saved. Let's seek God for a fresh outpouring of His mighty Spirit and quit making half hearted attempts on our own.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Reflection on Fall

It's been awhile since I last posted. I love quiet mornings as fall approaches. Fall is my very favoirite time of the year. I love the warm days and cool nights and how the trees shed their leaves. I was thinking this morning that when I seek the Lord He often asks me to shed things. It is obvious that we need to shed sin and habits that are not God honoring but He often asks me to shed other things also. One of the hardest things to shed is my own natural self. I have certain traits that Ihave been born with. They were placed their by God to help me in the task that He has entrusted me with here on the Earth. Unfortunately they can also hinder my usefulness. I am by nature an introvert. When I let that rule me it is not good. I cannot be useful to God without relationships. I need to shed that part of me while not losing the part of that trait which is good and God ordained. Being an introvert has helped me to listen to others, it has helped me to notice when people are struggling and having a hard time. I don't want to lose that but if I don't take opportunity to enter people's lives it will all be for nothing. God also wants me to shed my pride. Ouch! I tend to have this feeling that my opinions are the right ones, that my plans are the ones to go with, and that my ideas are the best. That is of course foolishness. Through the years I have changed my opinion countless times,I have made horrible plans and my ideas are far from the best. I need to rest in the place God has me, rest in the knowledge that He will use me, and give up pushing and shoving my way through life. If my desire is, and it truly is, to serve God and to win those around me to Christ, I need to shed my useless leaves just as the trees shed their's in the fall.