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!!!
Showing posts with label Holy Spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holy Spirit. Show all posts
Monday, September 14, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Encouragement from Him
From Philippians 2:1-4...
"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."
I was just thinking how this is the purpose of the blog...if we are united with Christ, we should not be bogged down in the sorrow of sin, but we should be shining as lights for Him and be encouraging to others! Someone spoke to me today about how rehashing my sin to others is not an encouragement, but is in fact discouraging and can even be a stumbling block.
So I want to renew my purpose for having this blog be an encouragement to one another--ya'll are admins, so feel free to edit or delete my posts if they are not glorifying to God! But girls, look at how much the verses say we have received--encouragement, comfort, fellowship, tenderness and compassion...how can we not be filled with gratefulness and joy for what God is doing?? Let's purpose to seek Him wholeheartedly!!
Minor testimony, but still wanted to share it...I had an interview on Wednesday for an events planning training program, and one of the parts of the interview was to fill out a personality survey. On the survey, we had to rank ourselves 1-5 on various categories, then the interviewer asked about them. So, near the end, there were 2 categories of "how religious are you?" and "how politically liberal are you?". I ranked myself, then waited for the question on those. I had to pray though, because I could just imagine myself rationalizing, 'well, I put a 5 but really, if something falls on a Sunday, I could make an exception. And I'm not very politically liberal, but what does that mean anyway? If you have a gay wedding to do, I guess I would just quietly not do it. Not really a big deal.'--I tend to try to please people at any cost. So I prayed God would help me be bold and non-compromising and when she went over the categories, she said "Oh ok you're very religious and conservative. That's actually good to be on that side of the extreme" and kept going. Anyway, just a little praise for God preparing my heart to stand for Him.
"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."
I was just thinking how this is the purpose of the blog...if we are united with Christ, we should not be bogged down in the sorrow of sin, but we should be shining as lights for Him and be encouraging to others! Someone spoke to me today about how rehashing my sin to others is not an encouragement, but is in fact discouraging and can even be a stumbling block.
So I want to renew my purpose for having this blog be an encouragement to one another--ya'll are admins, so feel free to edit or delete my posts if they are not glorifying to God! But girls, look at how much the verses say we have received--encouragement, comfort, fellowship, tenderness and compassion...how can we not be filled with gratefulness and joy for what God is doing?? Let's purpose to seek Him wholeheartedly!!
Minor testimony, but still wanted to share it...I had an interview on Wednesday for an events planning training program, and one of the parts of the interview was to fill out a personality survey. On the survey, we had to rank ourselves 1-5 on various categories, then the interviewer asked about them. So, near the end, there were 2 categories of "how religious are you?" and "how politically liberal are you?". I ranked myself, then waited for the question on those. I had to pray though, because I could just imagine myself rationalizing, 'well, I put a 5 but really, if something falls on a Sunday, I could make an exception. And I'm not very politically liberal, but what does that mean anyway? If you have a gay wedding to do, I guess I would just quietly not do it. Not really a big deal.'--I tend to try to please people at any cost. So I prayed God would help me be bold and non-compromising and when she went over the categories, she said "Oh ok you're very religious and conservative. That's actually good to be on that side of the extreme" and kept going. Anyway, just a little praise for God preparing my heart to stand for Him.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Burnt Offerings
Hey girls,
In our reading the other day we read "I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing."
It made me think of 2 things:
1. Our offerings have to cost us something. Confession is difficult, yes, but not really costly. Maybe our reputation or people's view of us, but obedience is what really makes is hurt. You have to say no when you want to say yes, to die to self, to take up the cross. Wow. That makes confession look almost easy.
2. They have to burn. I keep thinking about putting things up on the altar, but we can't just set them there and walk off. That makes it way too easy to come back and try to sneak things back off. We have to burn them, cut off all contact, make a clean break, replace them with something new, leaving nothing of the old. That's painful.
Praise God he gives grace! I was talking to Mrs. Perry the other day, and we would be so lost, so exhausted and unable if it weren't for the power of the Holy Spirit. But to get that: disciplined, holy life.
In our reading the other day we read "I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing."
It made me think of 2 things:
1. Our offerings have to cost us something. Confession is difficult, yes, but not really costly. Maybe our reputation or people's view of us, but obedience is what really makes is hurt. You have to say no when you want to say yes, to die to self, to take up the cross. Wow. That makes confession look almost easy.
2. They have to burn. I keep thinking about putting things up on the altar, but we can't just set them there and walk off. That makes it way too easy to come back and try to sneak things back off. We have to burn them, cut off all contact, make a clean break, replace them with something new, leaving nothing of the old. That's painful.
Praise God he gives grace! I was talking to Mrs. Perry the other day, and we would be so lost, so exhausted and unable if it weren't for the power of the Holy Spirit. But to get that: disciplined, holy life.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Why can't I be like that vase?
Just really quickly, cause Jenna's post reminded me of it--
Lately I've wanted to ask (using the pottery metaphor) "Why can't I be as beautiful or useful as that vase?" I see the work that God's doing in others, and I want to be like the best. Now, for one thing, judging some to be "the best" is a problem in the first place, because only God sees the heart. But I think there are people who we see are on a "higher ground" than we are. And it's right to want to be on that higher ground, but not enviously. Not because we want to be among the elite, but because we want to know God more and be used by him more. I don't want to just be like Simon the sorcerer who wanted to buy the apostle's power.
I have to remember that, often times, these people who I see are living on a higher plane than I started higher or earlier in this revival--I can't expect overnight change without the same hard work and perseverance (time!). So getting there takes work. Practical godly living (alright, this I know I can do with God's help), but also immersion in spiritual thinking--reading the Bible, godly books, praying, memorizing, etc (Um, but that's going to take the time I want to spend doing something mindless and useless. Yep. And God will help you do it, and God will even help you love it, as you know from experience). And it also takes perseverance--time. But most of all, it takes the power of the Holy Spirit. All my works--and certainly all my attempts at works--are in vain if they aren't done in his power. And if I'm truly living for God, he'll bring me to higher and higher and higher ground! And that's so exciting!
I just thought of something.
We can be dissatisfied with being where we are. That's not very helpful, since we can't do anything about our current condition--only our future condition. And then we just get depressed, because we see no hope.
But we should be dissatisfied with staying where we are. That, we (with God's help) can do something about! With that, there is hope! And with faith, we can be sure of what we hope for! What a wonderful promise!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Living in Joy
Hi Gals,
With all that has been going on the revival, it seems easy to get caught up in excitement. However, I have really found that I tend to get depressed by how much there is for me to change. And I feel as though, even if I do change, I will have to work hard at it for the rest of my life to live in the way God desires. And it seems like life cannot be happy. But, last night God really spoke to me and showed me...Satan takes away joy, not obedience to God. He deceives us and makes us think, "There cannot be joy in doing God's will." But, praise God! He is more powerful than Satan and He GIVES joy! Even when things are difficult, the Holy Spirit can give us power not only to do them, but also to have JOY in doing.
I don't know if ya'll struggle with this, but I have found great peace in God. And now, when Satan comes to tempt me to get depressed and to feel like I can only obey and never have joy, I can say to him, "The Holy Spirit gives us power to obey quickly, exactly and with JOY." Hope this helps you feel encouraged in a time where a lot of sin is being revealed and a lot of hard work needs to be done to change it.
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