Ever heard the saying, "Let go, and let God"?
It seems that when we strive for more of God that the devil tries to come at us even more, or we notice it more. It's like, you get soooooooo excited about hearing the Word and are sooooo excited to act on it, and then boom! The devil throws things your way!!! I was having a pretty good week and then yesterday I was just feeling really lost like I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing and just had all these cares. When I got home from working on the boats last night, I was talking to Jeff and he was like, "You just have to give it to God." And my rebuttle in my mind was, "But if I give it to God, then I won't have anything to worry or care about." EXACTLY! DUH?!?!?!? Sometimes I feel like we (or maybe just me) get so greedy with our cares that we just want to carry them around and baby them and get attention from them because if we give them to God, then we won't be all mopey and down and sad and greedy or needy for attention anymore...hmmm...meaning we'll be happy! So, in the shower this morning, I was like, Ok, God, I just give it all to you. And it's like from then on, you just have to not think about everything. Just stop worrying about it all. We need to live in the PRESENT and stop trying to figure out our entire lives! God will lead us in the right direction as we follow Him and GROW in Him and as HE finds us ready to move to the next step. What a great revelation! Thanks, Jeff, for hitting me in the noggin with such an obvious reality!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
Fruits of the Spirit
Lately Jeff and I have been listening to a lot of podcasts. We've been listening to a "nightly message" too, and we have been striving to actually grow closer to God. In a lot of the messages, I feel like they're saying, we crucify ourselves to be one with God, we put our flesh down, we don't even have a "hint" of greed, and when we do these things and truly seek God, the fruits of the Spirit will flow freely from us.
That is something I love. When you truly find who you are IN CHRIST, things of this world do not matter. I feel like I don't have to be in competition with people. When we try so hard to be perfect and compete with everyone to have the nicest things, what is the motivation? Self and greed. I feel like when we strive to be a woman of peace, joy, love, patience, kindness, gentleness, self control, that we don't even DESIRE to be in competition or greed. We DESIRE to be a woman of GRACE. I feel like God has been speaking to me about that lately. That I just need to be a woman of GRACE. Loving and not criticizing, not judgemental, not selfish, not greedy, JUST Loving. It's so easy to get distracted when people around you only care about me, me, me and what they have...but it gets tiring to try and compete. Why even try? That isn't what God is calling us to do. Who cares if we've downgraded our cars! Hahahaha I just have to laugh about it because I could so easily think, "It's not fair, I wish I had a nice car...I wish I had a bigger house...I wish I had..." That's not where I am supposed to be. When the time comes for me to be ready, will I still want the best of the best in the material world? Probably not because I would rather give more money into God's kingdom and missions and church planting. We can get by with something that works and is nice, but we don't need to have the best of the best.
Someone once said to me, "If you have people over and there isn't a spec of dirt, every little thing is perfectly in order, not a sight of any sort of a mess, the home doesn't feel like a home anymore and there is no feeling of hospitality, because what the point of getting it to that degree of perfection is so that you can IMPRESS someone. We should not be trying to impress people because it will just make them feel more uncomfortable in the end. Plus, then the motive is wrong." (That was just a paraphrase)
We ALL like our homes to be clean and in order and nice looking, but we need to examine ourselves so that when we're doing it our motives are correct. I don't know why I'm saying all this, I just feel like God has really been working on me to not compare myself with others and to just be a woman of grace. The woman that God truly wants me to be. Just to focus on Him and not care about what others think. Seek after the fruits of the spirit instead of seeking after material things. It's funny now when I hear people talk about me, me, me and what they have and what they're getting, and all they're doing...is that really what God wants our conversations to be like? In the end, those people usually don't have it all going on and maybe they don't have a great relationship with God, or a great marriage, or God's provision or God's protection, or blessing on their life. I don't know...I guess I just really want the fruits of the Spirit to be EVIDENT in my life!!! I'm so excited to finally be GROWING in God. Finally. (And I like to journal about the journey...it's always fun to look back and see just how far God is really taking you.)
That is something I love. When you truly find who you are IN CHRIST, things of this world do not matter. I feel like I don't have to be in competition with people. When we try so hard to be perfect and compete with everyone to have the nicest things, what is the motivation? Self and greed. I feel like when we strive to be a woman of peace, joy, love, patience, kindness, gentleness, self control, that we don't even DESIRE to be in competition or greed. We DESIRE to be a woman of GRACE. I feel like God has been speaking to me about that lately. That I just need to be a woman of GRACE. Loving and not criticizing, not judgemental, not selfish, not greedy, JUST Loving. It's so easy to get distracted when people around you only care about me, me, me and what they have...but it gets tiring to try and compete. Why even try? That isn't what God is calling us to do. Who cares if we've downgraded our cars! Hahahaha I just have to laugh about it because I could so easily think, "It's not fair, I wish I had a nice car...I wish I had a bigger house...I wish I had..." That's not where I am supposed to be. When the time comes for me to be ready, will I still want the best of the best in the material world? Probably not because I would rather give more money into God's kingdom and missions and church planting. We can get by with something that works and is nice, but we don't need to have the best of the best.
Someone once said to me, "If you have people over and there isn't a spec of dirt, every little thing is perfectly in order, not a sight of any sort of a mess, the home doesn't feel like a home anymore and there is no feeling of hospitality, because what the point of getting it to that degree of perfection is so that you can IMPRESS someone. We should not be trying to impress people because it will just make them feel more uncomfortable in the end. Plus, then the motive is wrong." (That was just a paraphrase)
We ALL like our homes to be clean and in order and nice looking, but we need to examine ourselves so that when we're doing it our motives are correct. I don't know why I'm saying all this, I just feel like God has really been working on me to not compare myself with others and to just be a woman of grace. The woman that God truly wants me to be. Just to focus on Him and not care about what others think. Seek after the fruits of the spirit instead of seeking after material things. It's funny now when I hear people talk about me, me, me and what they have and what they're getting, and all they're doing...is that really what God wants our conversations to be like? In the end, those people usually don't have it all going on and maybe they don't have a great relationship with God, or a great marriage, or God's provision or God's protection, or blessing on their life. I don't know...I guess I just really want the fruits of the Spirit to be EVIDENT in my life!!! I'm so excited to finally be GROWING in God. Finally. (And I like to journal about the journey...it's always fun to look back and see just how far God is really taking you.)
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Happy Birthday, Jakey!
A lil gallery all about Jake...
Look how "Cool" he looks in this pic at the AR Razorbacks game...
Ope, here's the real deal: Christmas with a new babe.
Wearing his Easter Egg Cookie Mask...what a chappy!
I guess he cleans up well! (Sheena, "[Insert loud whistle here]"
And then he of course, manages to work the "Sass" with my Son...
Today is my brother Jake's Birthday!
I hope you have an amazing day, Jake! (since I know you'll read this!)
Jake is a great older brother...he likes it when we pull things from the childhood "memory box" so I'm going to try real quick...
I remember when he used to drive us to school in his black z34 all decked out. It was great. On mornings when I was crabby, he'd put silly music on and do the kangaroo dance just to annoy me. In my head, I actually thought it was funny and admired him for not being crabby back. He always made an effort to get to know the 3 younger siblings. I loved that about him. He cared about us! When I was old enough to drive, he even let me drive his pimped out car. All of my friends were like, WHOA! Jake lets you drive his car??? I'd smile and be like, "Yeah, duh!?! He's coo like that" What a nice big bro.
Now he lives in Arky and we all miss him here in MN, but are happy that he's pursuing God's calling on his life. He is married to a beautiful girlie named Sheena who I couldn't be happier to have as a sister (in-law, whatev). He also has this cute smiley little big cheekies boy, Jeremiah...what a blessing.
Love you, Jake! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
(What a cute family he has)
Look how "Cool" he looks in this pic at the AR Razorbacks game...
Ope, here's the real deal: Christmas with a new babe.
Wearing his Easter Egg Cookie Mask...what a chappy!
I guess he cleans up well! (Sheena, "[Insert loud whistle here]"
And then he of course, manages to work the "Sass" with my Son...
Today is my brother Jake's Birthday!
I hope you have an amazing day, Jake! (since I know you'll read this!)
Jake is a great older brother...he likes it when we pull things from the childhood "memory box" so I'm going to try real quick...
I remember when he used to drive us to school in his black z34 all decked out. It was great. On mornings when I was crabby, he'd put silly music on and do the kangaroo dance just to annoy me. In my head, I actually thought it was funny and admired him for not being crabby back. He always made an effort to get to know the 3 younger siblings. I loved that about him. He cared about us! When I was old enough to drive, he even let me drive his pimped out car. All of my friends were like, WHOA! Jake lets you drive his car??? I'd smile and be like, "Yeah, duh!?! He's coo like that" What a nice big bro.
Now he lives in Arky and we all miss him here in MN, but are happy that he's pursuing God's calling on his life. He is married to a beautiful girlie named Sheena who I couldn't be happier to have as a sister (in-law, whatev). He also has this cute smiley little big cheekies boy, Jeremiah...what a blessing.
Love you, Jake! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
(What a cute family he has)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)