gOSH FLUFFY!
the gem of all gems.. the HEART!!!!
the gem of all gems.. the HEART!!!!
THE INNER ROOM - "Learn and Grow - to Maturity". Please read the 1st Post.
- Thread starter Bondman
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Hi Faithwoman and Mark, you guys sure have been whippin' up a storm of great truths here!
I love the 'gem' one, hon, and expecially all that you wrote about the the 'strolling' picture. Really excellent, and very apt for us all in our daily life I thought.
Mark, all you said about sin and moving forward in the Lord was so spot on. We really don't need those bondages, do we? They hold us back, mess us up, harm us - and hurt and disappoint our Lord!! Yep, not always easy to relinquish them, but like you said this is Holy Spirit territory and He can and will make those who seek the right way to become more holy and be growing in personal righteousness in Christ the Messiah.
I agree we gotta see sin for what it is, quit kidding ourselves, face it, and get it sorted! Again not easy - but then is anything that's TRULY worthwhile in the world ever easy? What excites me is to see folks here who are SERIOUS about the Lord and their walk with Him, are choosing to stand up and do what's right instead of taking the easy way. THAT'S the difference between being on the broad way to destruction and the narrow way that leads to Life - with a capital L!!! (Matt 7:13-14).
Wow, bless you both!
- BM
I love the 'gem' one, hon, and expecially all that you wrote about the the 'strolling' picture. Really excellent, and very apt for us all in our daily life I thought.
Mark, all you said about sin and moving forward in the Lord was so spot on. We really don't need those bondages, do we? They hold us back, mess us up, harm us - and hurt and disappoint our Lord!! Yep, not always easy to relinquish them, but like you said this is Holy Spirit territory and He can and will make those who seek the right way to become more holy and be growing in personal righteousness in Christ the Messiah.
I agree we gotta see sin for what it is, quit kidding ourselves, face it, and get it sorted! Again not easy - but then is anything that's TRULY worthwhile in the world ever easy? What excites me is to see folks here who are SERIOUS about the Lord and their walk with Him, are choosing to stand up and do what's right instead of taking the easy way. THAT'S the difference between being on the broad way to destruction and the narrow way that leads to Life - with a capital L!!! (Matt 7:13-14).
Wow, bless you both!
- BM
PRACTICAL NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY
MESSAGE #115
'GREEK THINKING' REALLY DOESN'T HELP OUR CHRISTIAN WALK!
In respect of how we think about life, from the cradle to the grave we Westerners are taught how to think in the way THE ANCIENT GREEKS DID - rather than how God’s special people, the HEBREWS, thought at the same time in history. Sadly, this is MOST UNHELPFUL to our Christianity, adversly affecting, in a quite serious way, how we see things and react to them. Let me try and explain.
I’ll start with something strong to help get us on track to understand the problem we’ve inherited. Because we ARE Greek thinkers we will perfectly happily stand up on our hind legs and say to Almighty God, "Hey you, I got rights y’know!! Who do you think you are anyway!!" Hmm… I’m pretty CERTAIN He already KNOWS Who He is!! In point of fact His UTTER RIGHT TO BE GOD AND TO RULE OVER ALL OF OUR LIVES IS EXACTLY what we really don’t want to accept, or certainly not to FULLY accept!
We have OUR rights we reckon!! This "I, me, my, mine" stuff is straight-out Greek thinking. Hey, look at me, I’M the most important person round here!! I saw children doing this in the playground every day of my teaching career! Our way of thinking and therefore our way of approaching THE WHOLE OF LIFE is so VERY detrimental to one of the most IMPORTANT and NECESSARY steps that we all need to take in the whole of our Christian life: ACCEPTING AND ACKNOWLEDGING THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS OVER THE WHOLE OF OUR LIFE.
You see, Greek thinking teaches us that the INDIVIDUAL is ALL-IMPORTANT, and so we’ve all learnt how to stand up and assert our INDIVIDUAL IMPORTANCE and RIGHTS!! Greek thinking! And thus we think that NO ONE, BUT NO ONE, should ever be able to have authority over us and try bossing us around. No way!! -- Man how sad is that! This is a problem that HEBREW THINKING does not have!!
Thing is, if ever we are to grow and progress in our Christian life we simply HAVE to let One particular Person have TOTAL AUTHORITY OVER US. That’s what Jesus’ being LORD in our lives means. HE becomes the One Who is in charge. In my life these days I do what He TELLS me to do: NOT what I want to do! HE has ALL the authority, not me!! I happily ALLOW HIM TO CONTROL MY WHOLE LIFE!! May sound pretty drastic, but I can assure you that IT WORKS INCREDIBLY WELL!!! But oh, how our Greek-moulded minds and wills fight AGAINST this! We’ll do just about anything rather than give in to Jesus, and let Him rule in, and over OUR LIFE!!
I have to tell you that you will get NOWHERE in your Christian life until you front up to this FACT – that He MUST RULE in your life. Not in part of it – in ALL of it! It IS a drastic step. And GREEK THINKING will work to STOP you from TAKING IT! Please give up this rotten way of thinking! Then you can bow down to Him as Lord now, rather than be FORCED to bow in eternity, when EVERY KNEE will bow - whether we want to or not!! Philippians Ch 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
- BM, with his Beloved
TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY
FOR EVER AND EVER! AMEN!
hey, i have a prayer request too my uncle has cancer and depression. he has tried drug after drug but to no avail the cancer keeps coming, and now he trying a new one. pray for his faith that it will continue to remain, and that the Lord heals him, gives him a peace of mind, since hes so worried about wads gonna happen to his wife whose not working, if he ever dies.
It Takes Time
Hey, Blanketgirl, I will pray now for your dad. . .
Hi, all! I know I have been gone from this scene for awhile, but it has not been bad. It's all been for the good. I have been seeking God, reading, meditating on His Words, and becoming more intimate with my Heavenly Father. I've known this was what I needed to do for a long time. I have gained lots of advice and information on this forum, but information, nor formulas will bring you into intimacy with God. A lifestyle of intercession has to be cultivated and it has to be maintained. This is what I learned by reading a book I picked up called Beyond the Veil by Alice Smith.
I had such a longing for more of God and realized I needed to get away from my many questions and the advice I was receiving to find my peace with Him.
Boanerges had consistently told me to take it slow this time and build a firm foundation, and not to try to learn all at once. So, when I read the following sentence in this book, I was reminded of that advice:
"Just as with any garden, time is needed for growth to appear. Seasons of difficulty and sunshine will be part of its life-long development. But these seasons will force the roots deeper into the source of your strength - Jesus Christ. The following illustrates this principle:
A student asked the president of a school if he could take a shorter course than the one prescribed. "Oh yes," replied the president. "But then it depends upon what you want to be. When God wants to make an oak, He takes a hundred years. When He wants to make a squash, He takes only four months."
God wants us to be an oak tree, not a spiritual squash. To become an oak, your roots must sink down deep. If you are only willing to be a squash, your root system will remain shallow and you will not have the vitality to linger very long in the Holy of Holies with God.
See, I realized that in order for me to satisfy the hunger for Him I had, I needed to develope a love relationship between me and Heavenly Father. And the only way to do that is to spend time with Him, no matter how uncomfortable I felt learning to pray. It no longer feels strange to go before His presence in prayer. I no longer feel unworthy because He tells me Himself He loves me no matter what. And that He will never leave me or forsake me. NEVER!!
I also learned as I read this book that we are in a priesthood as Christians and this was somewhat of a surprise because in the Mormon church, I was taught that all men 12/yrs and over became part of the priesthood and had authority over all of us and could pray over us and even baptize us. So, I was familiar with this verse, but not in this way. I read the following scripture:
To paraphrase: They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. . .and you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Isa. 61: 3, 4, 6 That's US.
The Old Testament priest had several duties in the Temple. Yet Exodus 28 repeatedly says that the priest's primary duty was to minister to GOD!:
And take thou unto thee Aaron they borther, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. Ex. 28 1, 41 I believe it is our duty to "minister to God" in our prayer time.
We can easily become so involved in the "work of the Lord" that we overlook the "Lord of the work." Our priority each morning at prayer time should be to "minister unto our Lord." Sing to Him, brag on Him and read the Word back to Him.
This one way, by living in an intimate relationship through prayer at increasingly deeper levels, is how the world can see our royal priestly lives and want to know Him through our representation of Him.
When we enter in, the fragrance of what Jesus did in conjunction with the praises and prayers of the saints becomes an incense before the Lord. We are then functioning as true priests.
I know I don't sound like the same SweetSurrender, but I have learned a lot, just by sitting at the feet of Jesus in my times alone with Him. Not that I won't be "peaking in" once in awhile. Ha! But I just wanted ya'll to know what I have been up to. . . or is that 'down', as in down on my knees.
I just appreciate everything you have taught me on this site, leading me where God ultimately wanted me to be. You have all been such a blessing to me. I'm sorry this has been such a long post, but it was necessary, as I have been gone a loooonnnng time. You can read my thread on the General topics that I wrote earlier about this book.
Thanx for letting me vent and I'll be talking again later. Love and prayers to ya! Sweets
Hey, Blanketgirl, I will pray now for your dad. . .
Hi, all! I know I have been gone from this scene for awhile, but it has not been bad. It's all been for the good. I have been seeking God, reading, meditating on His Words, and becoming more intimate with my Heavenly Father. I've known this was what I needed to do for a long time. I have gained lots of advice and information on this forum, but information, nor formulas will bring you into intimacy with God. A lifestyle of intercession has to be cultivated and it has to be maintained. This is what I learned by reading a book I picked up called Beyond the Veil by Alice Smith.
I had such a longing for more of God and realized I needed to get away from my many questions and the advice I was receiving to find my peace with Him.
Boanerges had consistently told me to take it slow this time and build a firm foundation, and not to try to learn all at once. So, when I read the following sentence in this book, I was reminded of that advice:
"Just as with any garden, time is needed for growth to appear. Seasons of difficulty and sunshine will be part of its life-long development. But these seasons will force the roots deeper into the source of your strength - Jesus Christ. The following illustrates this principle:
A student asked the president of a school if he could take a shorter course than the one prescribed. "Oh yes," replied the president. "But then it depends upon what you want to be. When God wants to make an oak, He takes a hundred years. When He wants to make a squash, He takes only four months."
God wants us to be an oak tree, not a spiritual squash. To become an oak, your roots must sink down deep. If you are only willing to be a squash, your root system will remain shallow and you will not have the vitality to linger very long in the Holy of Holies with God.
See, I realized that in order for me to satisfy the hunger for Him I had, I needed to develope a love relationship between me and Heavenly Father. And the only way to do that is to spend time with Him, no matter how uncomfortable I felt learning to pray. It no longer feels strange to go before His presence in prayer. I no longer feel unworthy because He tells me Himself He loves me no matter what. And that He will never leave me or forsake me. NEVER!!
I also learned as I read this book that we are in a priesthood as Christians and this was somewhat of a surprise because in the Mormon church, I was taught that all men 12/yrs and over became part of the priesthood and had authority over all of us and could pray over us and even baptize us. So, I was familiar with this verse, but not in this way. I read the following scripture:
To paraphrase: They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. . .and you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Isa. 61: 3, 4, 6 That's US.
The Old Testament priest had several duties in the Temple. Yet Exodus 28 repeatedly says that the priest's primary duty was to minister to GOD!:
And take thou unto thee Aaron they borther, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. Ex. 28 1, 41 I believe it is our duty to "minister to God" in our prayer time.
We can easily become so involved in the "work of the Lord" that we overlook the "Lord of the work." Our priority each morning at prayer time should be to "minister unto our Lord." Sing to Him, brag on Him and read the Word back to Him.
This one way, by living in an intimate relationship through prayer at increasingly deeper levels, is how the world can see our royal priestly lives and want to know Him through our representation of Him.
When we enter in, the fragrance of what Jesus did in conjunction with the praises and prayers of the saints becomes an incense before the Lord. We are then functioning as true priests.
I know I don't sound like the same SweetSurrender, but I have learned a lot, just by sitting at the feet of Jesus in my times alone with Him. Not that I won't be "peaking in" once in awhile. Ha! But I just wanted ya'll to know what I have been up to. . . or is that 'down', as in down on my knees.
I just appreciate everything you have taught me on this site, leading me where God ultimately wanted me to be. You have all been such a blessing to me. I'm sorry this has been such a long post, but it was necessary, as I have been gone a loooonnnng time. You can read my thread on the General topics that I wrote earlier about this book.
Thanx for letting me vent and I'll be talking again later. Love and prayers to ya! Sweets
It's incredibly hard to face leaving family behind to have to look after themselves as blankgirl's uncle is. We know, because this is true for both of us. If either one of us goes the other is SO sick, yet is left alone to look after themself.
So I sure feel for blankgirl's uncle and family, and certainly pray for them in their rather terrible situation!
PRACTICAL NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY
MESSAGE #116
WANT TO REALLY BE FREE? (YOU CAN!)
If you're like me you may often have said affirming and EXTREMELY HEARTFELT prayers to the Lord like this, "You are MY GOD!!!" But someone overhearing this may think we're saying He's our God - that we OWN Him!! Yikes! Sometimes this thought has gone through my head and I've been known to assure the Lord that I'm NOT, repeat NOT, saying or meaning anything like that at all!!! Fact is, God has CONSENTED for us to be ALLOWED to call Him OUR God! He's agreed to this, He's said that's okay! He will ALLOW that!
To say to Him just the affirmation: "You are God!" is one thing. To say, "You are MY God!" Wow, that's quite another thing! What a high honour and privilege! NOT to be taken for granted; not to be taken lightly! NO WAY!!
So what we have here is an amazing "belonging"!! We belong to Him - truly BELONG to the great and mighty Creator God!! TRUTH: having become Christians we no longer belong to ourselves. We are now BLOOD BOUGHT! Jesus has FULLY PAID for our whole life and soul. Owns us, He does - and so God has CLAIMED US as His very own!!
Thing is, with Him OWNING us now - and He DOES! - d'ya think we've LOST a whole pile of our PERSONAL FREEDOM and FREEDOMS? NO!! EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE! I have MORE freedom and freedoms today than I've ever had in the whole of my life!! FAR MORE than I ever had before I acknowledged and took Jesus as Lord over the whole of my life. Jesus said of Himself, "If the Son shall make you free, YOU.. WILL.. BE.. FREE.. INDEED!!" John Ch 8:36. And I say, "HALLELUJAH!! I am so free! I can't believe it! It's just so - ASTONISHING!!"
Like, free from SINS that used to control me; free from ANGER that used to rise up and control me! Free from so MANY things that you can't do anything about of yourself. Then also free to truly LOVE others, UNSELFISHLY, and free to CARE FOR OTHERS by doing unselfish deeds - but WITHOUT ever expecting anything in return. Free to truly be ME - the me I want to be, the me GOD sure wants me to be! I have been RELEASED into the freedom in Christ that only HE brings. Therefore I've chosen to be a bond-slave (a bondman) of Jesus - yet I'm so FREE in Him at the same time!
Only in GOD is such a 'contradiction' possible!! My heartfelt prayer and wish for every reader here is that you enter into the FREEDOM that our Lord Jesus has waiting for you!
- BM, with his Lady
TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY
FOR EVER AND EVER! AMEN!
It strikes me that some serious thankyous are in order:
Firstly, "Sincere sincere and heartfelt thanks to You our great and wonderful Heavenly Father and God for what you've done in SweetSurrender's life! WOW!!"
Secondly, a thankyou is due to those on CFS who've been helps and guides and advisors to SweetSurrender to enable her to reach the place where she is now.
In the Lord, I greatly honour Bonnie for first of all her sound DECISION, and second of all her strong DETERMINATION to follow through and do what she's believed for some time that she should - and now has, to great profit and effect! A great example to all of us in our Christian walk!!
I then hope that EVERYONE will read and reread Bonnie's post, to get a handle on what it is that she's learnt and then put into practice in her life. There's a lot in her post (that's why I said 'reread'!)
Just a few of the gems I loved or said Amen to are:
- I have been seeking God, reading, meditating on His Words, and becoming more intimate with my Heavenly Father. I've known this was what I needed to do for a long time.
- information, nor formulas will bring you into intimacy with God.
- A lifestyle of intercession has to be cultivated and it has to be maintained.
- I have learned a lot, just by sitting at the feet of Jesus in my times alone with Him.
- I realized that in order for me to satisfy the hunger for Him I had, I needed to develope a love relationship between me and Heavenly Father. And the only way to do that is to spend time with Him, no matter how uncomfortable I felt learning to pray.
Much love,
- BM
A big Alleluia and Praise the Lord from New York how God is working in Bonnie's life.. and praises to Bonnie for being obedient and seeking him!
Bondman,
Another fabulous post!
Faithwoman
Bondman,
Another fabulous post!
Faithwoman
Hmm... an amen as strong as that about says it all! hee! Many blessings to ya, Fluf!!
Yeah Bonnie's done great, hey!
And I think this is a perfect illustration of AN EXTREMELY SERIOUS MATTER IN ALL OUR LIVES, i.e., it goes to show that it's sooo EASY for us to consciously (or subconsciously) think, "BUT I CAN'T DO (WHATEVER)!!" - WHEN REALLY WE CAN!!! - just gotta put our mind and will into it!
- BM
EDIT: Ooh, 600 posts! hehe
You jumped ahead of me.. I best get busy.. lol!
Left Behind
Ok. so you all know my prayer in the morning.. Lord put people into my life today that may need to know of you, a smile, word of encouragement, prayer etc.. and Lord put people in my life that will continue to uplift me to you.
I could ramble for hours of things that have happened and the people the Lord led me to lately.. the bald headed guy, the 65 year old woman who is afraid she won't go to heaven because of her past scandulous life, the young 26 year old gal that does not Jesus what soever.. the events that led to these meetings were quite interesting.
Today's happenings though proved no different. It started by a message left on my machine by an ex boyfriend of years ago. . you see he said he knew God, went to church with me.. he was older.. after dating for 6 months, I found he was still looking elsewhere. he confessed and said he wanted a woman his own age who was retired and was financially stable with money.
Well he found this woman who supposedly had money, she was a con artist and took him for everything he had.. we are talking mega money here. He is in the process of pressing charges. Again he was saving his storehouse up for himself and the Lord showed him. He asked me about going to dinner sometime and I said sure.. but first know I am no longer the gal you use to know.. I am a woman of Christ.. if you need encouragement and prayer in your life, I can give you that.. I can give the love of Jesus.. nothing else..
At the doctor’s office while waiting for an appointment, I saw a young gal reading a book. I started the conversation.. well I should say the Lord started the conversation by what interesting book are you reading? She said a book of the Left Behind series. It is kind of a religious book. I said just my kind of book. She said well I really don’t know God, but have learned from this series.. Well now you all know.. if someone says to Robin, I don’t know God,, Robin jumps right in. I got to share about Jesus who is is , how my life was before having Christ , and how it is now after accepting him. I shared my cell number with her and told her if she ever wanted to walk, have dinner etc. I would love to do that. I also invited her to attend church with me. She is getting married in October. Her husband is not a believer as well. They are engaged and living together currently in a home they bought. Oh Lord, help the young ones of this world.. She did state that she was enjoying this 10 book series. Her mom is starting to question more of her own faith as well. Her mom read the series first.
My point is this… No one should be left behind not knowing Jesus. It is imperative that we as believers keep looking for every opportune moment to share of his love and who he is. Whether it be bald headed guy, the 65 year old woman who feared not going to heaven, the young gal in the doctor’s office, a past ex boyfriend of years ago, it is up to me to continue to share of his love, grace mercy and forgiveness. Believe me there are people every day in your life. Just open your eyes and your heart.
Lord Jesus, may we take the focus off ourselves , focus on you, and focus on leading others to you.
Amen
Robin
\
PS.. I got a thank you note in the mail today from the 24 year old cocaine addict , thanking me for being in her life. On the front of the envelope was my name and address and she had written in Bold big letters- THE GREAT .. before my name, I am not great but Jesus is .. all praises to him!
PSS.. are you leaving anyone behind today?
Ok. so you all know my prayer in the morning.. Lord put people into my life today that may need to know of you, a smile, word of encouragement, prayer etc.. and Lord put people in my life that will continue to uplift me to you.
I could ramble for hours of things that have happened and the people the Lord led me to lately.. the bald headed guy, the 65 year old woman who is afraid she won't go to heaven because of her past scandulous life, the young 26 year old gal that does not Jesus what soever.. the events that led to these meetings were quite interesting.
Today's happenings though proved no different. It started by a message left on my machine by an ex boyfriend of years ago. . you see he said he knew God, went to church with me.. he was older.. after dating for 6 months, I found he was still looking elsewhere. he confessed and said he wanted a woman his own age who was retired and was financially stable with money.
Well he found this woman who supposedly had money, she was a con artist and took him for everything he had.. we are talking mega money here. He is in the process of pressing charges. Again he was saving his storehouse up for himself and the Lord showed him. He asked me about going to dinner sometime and I said sure.. but first know I am no longer the gal you use to know.. I am a woman of Christ.. if you need encouragement and prayer in your life, I can give you that.. I can give the love of Jesus.. nothing else..
At the doctor’s office while waiting for an appointment, I saw a young gal reading a book. I started the conversation.. well I should say the Lord started the conversation by what interesting book are you reading? She said a book of the Left Behind series. It is kind of a religious book. I said just my kind of book. She said well I really don’t know God, but have learned from this series.. Well now you all know.. if someone says to Robin, I don’t know God,, Robin jumps right in. I got to share about Jesus who is is , how my life was before having Christ , and how it is now after accepting him. I shared my cell number with her and told her if she ever wanted to walk, have dinner etc. I would love to do that. I also invited her to attend church with me. She is getting married in October. Her husband is not a believer as well. They are engaged and living together currently in a home they bought. Oh Lord, help the young ones of this world.. She did state that she was enjoying this 10 book series. Her mom is starting to question more of her own faith as well. Her mom read the series first.
My point is this… No one should be left behind not knowing Jesus. It is imperative that we as believers keep looking for every opportune moment to share of his love and who he is. Whether it be bald headed guy, the 65 year old woman who feared not going to heaven, the young gal in the doctor’s office, a past ex boyfriend of years ago, it is up to me to continue to share of his love, grace mercy and forgiveness. Believe me there are people every day in your life. Just open your eyes and your heart.
Lord Jesus, may we take the focus off ourselves , focus on you, and focus on leading others to you.
Amen
Robin
\
PS.. I got a thank you note in the mail today from the 24 year old cocaine addict , thanking me for being in her life. On the front of the envelope was my name and address and she had written in Bold big letters- THE GREAT .. before my name, I am not great but Jesus is .. all praises to him!
PSS.. are you leaving anyone behind today?
I was looking for something about counting blessings, and found this graphic instead. There is a sheep in there, get it? Count sheep/count blessings?
Lame, I know.
Peace!
We get it, sweetie!!!
That is soooo wonderful, Robin! I know I have been wanting to be like you and lead someone in the right direction. And I know that sometimes we are just the first contact in their lives. We made some kind of impact, and now the next person needs to be obedient and listening to His voice to speak to them. I forget what that's called, has a name for it. ??
There are so many babies at my new job with Early Headstart whose mothers are still in high school, 16, 17, or 18 yrs. young. I am starting by just being a friend to them and showing my concern for their lives and the great responsibility they have for this tiny one. I want them to know I am there for them if they ever need someone to talk with. God is giving me wisdom to see thru their facades and is helping me to break down their walls of mistrust. I need to pray for them each morning and watch as the Holy Spirit draws them to Jesus.
I pray that your willingness to take on an assignment each day will become the fulfillment for what you have given up to God, and that you will find your losses to be gain. Hugs! Bonnie
There are so many babies at my new job with Early Headstart whose mothers are still in high school, 16, 17, or 18 yrs. young. I am starting by just being a friend to them and showing my concern for their lives and the great responsibility they have for this tiny one. I want them to know I am there for them if they ever need someone to talk with. God is giving me wisdom to see thru their facades and is helping me to break down their walls of mistrust. I need to pray for them each morning and watch as the Holy Spirit draws them to Jesus.
I pray that your willingness to take on an assignment each day will become the fulfillment for what you have given up to God, and that you will find your losses to be gain. Hugs! Bonnie
What a lovely post!! You are doing so well! Both you and Robin are! I guess I'm allowed to feel a little bit proud of you both? (that's sure what I feel!!)
- BM
I guess it's good that the Lord is keeping you so busy, sweetie! He sure seems to be, hey!! "Robin the Great" has a ring to it I reckon! *chuckles!* But you're 100% spot on: HE IS GREAT, we are as nothing - definitely the only way to go!!
Blessings, dear one!
- BM
PRACTICAL NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANITY
MESSAGE #117
WHAT 'JOB' HAS GOD GIVEN TO YOU?
By 'job' I mean His calling to you while on the earth. In some cases His calling may be a specific gift, e.g., I have a gift of teaching and that is also my calling.
As I've said previously, your calling doesn't have to be "spectacular" or "major", i.e., it may be something quiet and hardly even noticed by most folk! This could be something like being a care person - someone who simply loves others and will go do the shopping for them when they are too sick to do so. Or cook a meal, or simply visit and just sit and talk awhile. Man, I can tell you that these so-called "unimportant" callings ARE SO IMPORTANT and SO NEEDED!!! Like, no one does 'em for us, and wow, do we NEED them!!!
We also need to understand that my job, my calling is NOT your calling! Cos if everyone was a teacher - there'd be no one to teach, hey! *nods* As I look at how God has recently led SweetSurrender into a new and wonderful prayer life, it won't surprise me if she ends up as AN INTERCESSOR: someone who spends much time PRAYING FOR OTHERS (a quite WONDERFUL 'job')! Please note that being an intercessor IS A CALLING FROM GOD! We are NOT all called to a life of intercession. And because "God is Smart", those who are so called are given SPECIAL ABILITIES/GIFTS to ENABLE them to effectively do this ministry!! Makes sense, right!
Similarly, Robin seems to have a particular calling. I saw this very early, but didn't say anything to her as the Lord said not to. But after her recent post it's looking more and more like she may have the gift of an evangelist. The ease with which she speaks to others, and how it seems like THEY EVEN SOMETIMES SEEM TO SEEK HER OUT (without realising), are signs of something like an evangelistic gift. At the very least certainly special abilities in this area.
Of course, we should all be "gossiping the Gospel" like the very early church did (they were so EXCITED about Jesus and His salvation that it seems like they couldn't help themselves!!) THOUSANDS were converted in a very short time! (this is in the first few Chapters of Acts). However, the EVANGELIST will often chat to someone sitting right beside them on a plane (carefully organised by God of course!!) who then ends up in the Kingdom by the time the plane lands!! Or the evangelist may stand up and preach to people in a bus, and many will ACCEPT CHRIST on the spot! They seem to have what the Greats of Old in England some hundreds of years ago would have called "A Holy Boldness"! Love it!!
So please don't envy those who have a calling or gifting that you don't!! Instead please DO seek from the Lord what His calling to YOU is!! And remember that whether it's "major" or "minor" IT'S OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE IN THE WORK OF THE KINGDOM!! (See "Serving the Lord is Good!") Bless you as you seek what His calling is for you!
- BM, with his Lady-love
TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY
FOR EVER AND EVER! AMEN!
- Status