Preparation

I was thinking while preparing for a large event at our house about the effort serving takes.  When you are hosting guests and family you usually want to do it well.  To do it well it takes extra effort and commitment which you do out of love for those you are serving.  This led me to think about how much God and Jesus Christ must love us.  In John 14:2 Jesus says, "In my Father's house are many rooms.  If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?"  It goes on to say He will be back to show us the way to His house.  The effort we take to be hospitable to our friends and family is nothing to what Jesus Christ has done for us in preparation for our joining HIm.  He willingly gave His life to make us pure, clean, acceptable guests at His Father's house as well as preparing the rooms and banquets for us when we arrive.  He asks only that we believe and profess that He is real and that we need His preparation and want to be pure and accepted by His Father in heaven.  What kind of reception will it be when the Creator of the Universe invites us to His house?  Imagine!

Time Flies

I've been thinking about time for many reasons lately and am reminded that our life is but a mist here on Earth.  James say in 4:14 "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for little while and them vanishes."  The longer you live the more you understand that statement.  If that is the case then it is important that we use the time we have wisely.  As a Christian it is good to consider how would God have you use your time.  As an act of worship for all He has done in saving us from our sins by sending His son Jesus Christ to take our punishment that we may be pure and spotless before God on judgement day we want to honor God and use our life to make his name known.

Therefore, I want to have you think about this idea.  In more than one bible study I was introduced to the idea of making a life purpose statement.  The following is one from "Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow.  In this book she refers to Phyllis Stanley who wandered from God and on returning wrote her goal for change in living life based on Philippians 3:10  "For my determined purpose is that I may know Him - that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly." (AMP)  From that she wrote her statement to read like this:

     I want to live my life very purposely, regularly reviewing and praying over my purpose in life, loving God intensely, cherishing and inspiring my husband,  praying for and keeping connected spiritually with my children, loving women and seeking to lay spiritual foundations in their lives.
     I want to live faithfully, believing God for what I cannot see.  I want to believe that God can do in my children's lives what I cannot do.
     I want to live creatively, creating beauty and warmth in my home, around my table, and in my Bible study.  Creativity adds sparkle to a focused, purposeful life.
     I want to live paradoxically.  I want to go against my selfish nature, against our culture, giving a little bit more than I feel like giving, going the second mile, being like Jesus.


That is well stated.  I took some time and wrote my own statement which is different than hers yet the same in focused attention.  The key is to make some quiet time to pray about what God wants from you and who and what He has put in your life now and what you want to be remembered about your life.  It is not as overwhelming as it may sound and you do not have to be an eloquent writer.  You just have to care about how you want to live your life for God and put down some goals.  Print it out and display it for those times when life is pulling you many different ways.  It can calm your spirit, direct your efforts, and put the steam back in the mist of your life.  Praise be to God now and forever! Amen

   

The blog set up has changed.  Change is a hard thing for me especially if it involves technology!  I realize that finding anything on this blog is very hit and miss.  Somehow it falls to the bottom of the list each day.  Isn't it often that way with good intentions.  Only God completes his to do list everyday.  I read that in one of my favorite gooks on time management by Carolyn Mahaney called "Shopping for Time".  I believe I should read it again.  Speaking of Carolyn Mahaney she has a blog along with her daughters that is worth following.  I pray your day is filled with intentional use of your time for God's purposes in the assignments He has given you.  Sometimes that includes time for smelling the spring lilacs, soaking up the warmth of the sun He created, and listening to the patter of raindrops on the roof.

Spring Thaw

I've been thinking as I watch the wind blow across the lake about God being known from His creation.  This winter the lake was cold, blue, hard, and frozen.  As the sun became stronger and shone bright upon the lake is began to melt becoming warm, reflective, fluid, and sparkling.  It began to reflect the light of the sunsets and the glitter of the noonday.  It moved as the spirit of the wind crossed it.

Our souls are much like that body of water.  They can be cold, blue, hard, and frozen within us.  As the Son of God shines on us when we repent, change our ways, and believe in Christ's resurrection from the dead and the Holy Spirit blows across our souls we become warm, shining, fluid and reflecting His character to those around us.   The Holy Spirit moves us to reach out to others who are still trapped in the frozen wilderness of unrepentant lives.  Oh how free they could be as their souls are warmed by the risen Son and their lives shine His light out around the world!  Hallelujah!  He is risen.  He is risen indeed!

Body Image

I have been thinking about the Titus 2 seminar coming up concerning body image.  We will be listening to a lesson from Beth Moore and I have just finished learning some excellent thoughts from Dr. Ed Welch that I will share at this seminar.  He spoke at Capital Hill Baptist Church with the title "Does Thin Equal Beautiful?" and how we as Christians respond to this question.  His ideas are beautiful if I may repeat that term and he reminds us that the bible has profound answers to our life struggles. He has us consider seeking something more beautiful than ourselves and loving others more than ourselves.  He has us learn to  understand the freedom we have in Christ and pointing others to Christ.   I think you will like his look at the struggles of eating and addictions in our lives.  The seminar is Saturday March 24th from 9 - 11 at Bethel Baptist Church in Greeley, Colorado.  See you there.

Be Quick to Listen and Then Do Something

I have been thinking about the book of James due to our study at Bethel in Greeley, Colorado on Thursday mornings but also because it has some scriptures that ring so true in my life.  The ones we have been studying this week include speaking, hearing, and doing.  After reading the Spiritual Disciplines book on prayer and meditation these are especially good.  James 1:19 "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."  James 1:22 "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  do what it says."

The reason I am writing on this is that it is so easy to read the word, hear the word, go on and forget the word.  It is also easy when talking with others to be quick to cut them off in order to give them our wisdom or excuses on a subject.  So much can be discovered if we learn to wait and learn to think on something before we open our mouths.  God knows this and speaks to even little habits such as this that can have BIG consequences.

When we listen before we speak we can learn the heart and mind of the person or the matter at hand.  This includes our husband, children, friends, and co-workers.  It may totally change how we respond.  While we are listening and thinking we can use verse 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously without finding fault, and it will be given to him."  I guarantee this will change your response and the words coming out of your mouth!

This waiting and meditating IS part of the doing of God's word.  Of course, there are many other things that James and Christ are teaching us about doing but we can at least start there.  How many bible studies, sermons, books, podcasts do we hear without changing anything we do?  It could be hundreds.  I included myself in that.  Let's not be crushed with guilt but really contemplate whether or not we can do something with what we have learned.

Mark Dever is now teaching in his sermons through the book of James.  You can download those from the Capitol Hill Baptist Church website.  Under his sermon on 1:19 he brings in Ephesians 4:29-30 and how we can grieve the Holy Spirit with our conversations.  Apparently this is very important to God.  Our mouths reflect our hearts and we are supposed to reflect our Savior Jesus Christ.  Let's do something about our hearts and our mouths.  In God's power He is changing us for the good when He teaches us these things.  He tells us we will be blessed when we do what He says and what He does.

I'm Back

I was thinking it is time to write again.  Life's distractions kept me away for awhile and I have been learning about how people blog.  Thus, this blog might take on different formats as I go along.

I just returned from a conference on biblical counseling.  Biblical counseling believes this:  "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16 -17

Put that thought with this:  We do what we do because we want what we want.  We want what we want out of the desires of our hearts.  What are the desires of our hearts?  Does every one have desires of the heart?  Do people who struggle whether knowing Christ or not knowing Christ have desires of the heart?  Do we as Christians think God has answers for them?  If we do, do we ponder how to point people to those answers?  The beauty of Christ is He has answers for changing the heart and out of that comes fruit that comes now and for eternity if we walk and talk with Him.  Our lives and the lives of others can be lived more fully because of Him.  There is hope for our hearts and thus for our lives now and forever!

That is some GOOD NEWS!!