From Our Reading...

I felt like there was so much richness in this morning's readings!! From the warnings to have more faith and to listen to the men of God in 2 Kings, to the warnings for backsliders and the encouragement for those who love God in Jeremiah...and then to 1 Corinthians!



I know I posted something about chapter 13 a couple months back, but we read three chapters this morning, and several other things stood out...



From chapter 12:

vs. 4-6 "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in men."

vs. 22-26 "...those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor...But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it...If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it."

Some of us are weaker, or may not have as obvious of gifts. But GOD has combined us together to work for His glory! He made the body of Christ to honor and glorify Him! The same Spirit is working in each of us...so let's listen to Him!



From chapter 13:

vs. 2,3 "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames but have not love, I gain nothing."

If we use our gifts that God gave us without love, they mean nothing. If we don't use our gifts with love, we give God no glory. NONE. If we 'sacrifice' for others without love, it means NOTHING. Does that scare anyone else?? If we go about life without love, we are not obeying what God commands. Well, what is love? Well, read the rest of the chapter :) It so easy to trick ourselves into thinking what we're doing is right yet do it without love! Especially in this chapter, the phrases "love is kind" and love "keeps no record of wrongs" stick out to me. How do YOU want to be loved? Told that you're loved and then have something held over your head? I don't!



From chapter 14:

vs. 12 "...Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church."

I was really convicted by this, because I am not as eager to have spiritual gifts as I should be. Yes, I want God's blessings and temporal things (like a job...) but how much do I crave spiritual gifts? How much do I desire to build up the church? Do I desire gifts for the right reason? Do I strive to bring glory to God in everything I do? Definitely not as much as I should...

The Bible is starting to become so ALIVE to me!! So many things speak DIRECTLY to me! And even 'just' the encouragement from 1 Corinthians 13 about how God loves me...AMAZING love indeed!!!

Short Sighted, Please

A more Christian attitude, which can be attained at any age, is that of leaving futurity in God’s hands. We may as well, for God will certainly retain it whether we leave it to Him or not.

Never, in peace or war, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future. Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-tem plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment “as to the Lord.” It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received.

C.S. Lewis

Essay "Learning in war-time."

Found in the book The Weight of Glory

. . . . . . . . . . .

hmm, good point. We are young! We always place our hopes and expectations into the future, simply for the fact that we there is a higher percentage of life yet to come than lies behind us. True true. I see how I bank my happiness on what I expect from the future. Especially on the big issues of marriage, family and career. Help me God to be short sighted, happily working in the present time and leaving the future to you.

God's Love

If you're having a hard time loving someone, I found this song really encouraging:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OihvG607W-c

Here's the chorus:
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

Especially applicable when we think about Pastor's sermon on forgiveness...seeing others as God sees them...
applicable when we think about witnessing to others...seeing them as people who need God just as much as we do...
applicable when we get so self-centered and self-focused and forget about others around us...

Applicable on so many levels!

Submission

So, this entry is on submission to husbands.
And if you're single, you're probably thinking ok I'll stop reading then.
If you're married, you're probably thinking I have no idea what that means.

Please don't stop reading.
You're right, I don't. :)

But, if ya'll didn't know, I love reading other people's blogs. I have kinda gotten stuck in a mesh of blogs about kids with health problems, high risk pregnancies, etc. And I recently found one, by a Christian woman nicknamed MckMama (and she nicknamed her kids Big Mac, Small Fry, MckNugget and MckMuffin for anonymity's sake). Her last child had severe heart problems, even while in utero, which led to an enormous amount of stress on her marriage and marital problems. She wrote a post on submission, and I just wanted to highlight some of the things I found in there that I thought we all could benefit from:

1. "It isn't my grip on things that keeps our little life chugging along so nicely. In fact, it was at my own hands that the life was being drained from my own marriage. It is God's grip on us, whether we choose to believe in Him or not, that is the only true grip. My grip was just an illusion."
--we don't have control over our lives! God is ultimately in control, and we are to submit and surrender to Him

2. "Likewise, there was and is nothing I can do to guarantee a fulfilling marriage with my husband.Nothing, that is, apart from choosing to follow God's will for my marriage."
--In all areas of life, there is nothing we can do to ensure a perfect outcome. We can chase after all the worldly pleasures we think we will bring fulfillment, but ultimately we will only find fulfillment in doing God's will.

3. "I am beginning to strive to speak nicely to my husband even when he is not doing the same. I seek to respect him even if he is not acting respectable. After all, I enjoy being loved even when I am unlovable! And God always loves us even when we are unlovable."
--Wow, I certainly don't have that attitude, do you? Am I so thankful that God loves me in spite of me that that thankfulness outpours in love for others? When we are married, there will doubtless be times when our husbands are not respectable and unlovable (in our eyes) but we must go against our natural inclinations. It reminds me of Pastor's sermon on forgiveness this past Sunday; we are forgiven SO MUCH that we MUST forgive others.

4. "What if marriage were meant to make us holy and not (simply) happy?"
--Sharon talked last night at Beautiful Minds about how our culture trains us to think that marriage is simply a romantic love, but there is a whole other reality. In all situations God has for us, He has designed those situations for our benefit, and we have the opportunity to please Him by praying that He would make us more holy. Plus...

5. "[I felt like God was saying,] 'Quit seeking happiness in your marriage by trying to find meaning and emotion in every single cotton pickin' thing your husband does or doesn't do. Just relax. Just be. Just serve me with your marriage. Prince Charming can never make you ultimately happy, anyway.' In surrendering my need to be fulfilled by another human being, I thought I'd be left with a bit of a hollow feeling. But the opposite has been true! In fact, I was just telling Prince Charming yesterday that I feel a weightless freedom that I have never known before. To not require him to meet my happiness needs doesn't leave me feeling unhappy"
--A husband CANNOT make us ultimately happy, anyway. That is too much burden on him! Only in God can we find ultimate happiness and fulfillment.


And that's that :) I have so many other post thoughts stored in my head at the moment though...and 2 whole free days of work!! ;)