I think God is stirring my heart to a new ministry. I’m not ready to share it all just yet. There are things that my eyes are being open to. When the Lord called me to Women’s Ministry I didn’t know how it would capture my heart!
For His Pleasure
Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
We were created for God’s pleasure. The word pleasure in the Greek is Thelema and its definition is:
what one wishes or has determined shall be done
of the purpose of God to bless mankind through Christ
of what God wishes to be done by us
commands, precepts will, choice, inclination, desire, pleasure
It was God’s choice to create us and His desire. In these days of tough economic times and with all the things going on in the world, it’s sometimes hard for someone to understand what God really had in mind. It would seem as if we were created for his pleasure that he would take no pleasure in our suffering. He doesn’t take any pleasure in it at all.
When I was growing up, I thought God was just sitting on a throne of judgment with a scowl on his face ready to render judgment and cast my soul to hell. This is why I have such a problem with parents who tell their kids that, “God’s gonna get you”! Not that my parents did that, but my religion did. They meant well, it kept us on a specific track but it wasn’t biblical.
So while we find ourselves in uncertain times and we look to heaven and wonder why God allowed this, the answer is He didn’t. There is a little thing called Free Will that gives us the ability to change the track of where we are supposed to go. When God is in control of our lives, he directs where we are going. Often we ignore his direction.
My husband has a love/hate relationship with Navigation System in our car. He takes the time to punch in the address and then argues with directions. Halfway through the trip he is changing course and direction and is in a battle with the Navigation System as to the best way to get there.
We were created for his pleasure. He takes delight in our well doing but just as any parent, he isn’t so pleased with our errors. I have two adult children and I want everything to be perfect for them but sometimes they make decisions without wise counsel and that sends them on a path that I would have never chosen for them. Yet, they are adults who live in their own homes and I must abide by their decisions whether I agree with them or not.
It is the same with God. In order to establish a kingdom on earth. He then put a king on earth, Adam, and eventually you and I. He had to then allow us to make decisions that shaped and influenced our kingdom. God’s hope and his pleasure was that we’d counsel up. Imagine the feeling that God must have when our prayers come up not for the messes we find ourselves in but for counsel for the things we are thinking about doing?
Just like the Navigation System where we punch in the address, then we change course and question routes, we find ourselves driving in wrong directions or taking a long scenic tour instead of the course originally set. When people say things like, “If God is so good why are there people suffering on the planet?” We need only to point the finger at the masters of that planet, you and I. If we could learn to live for His pleasure we’d find a lot of answers to the world’s problems and eradicate much of the suffering. Maybe this year, we’ll get a little closer to what’s important.
What Happened?
This year our church participated in a Harvest Festival with 11 other churches in our city. We met in the town square and set up booths of games and food on Halloween Night. As is usually the case, the questions arose.
Should we celebrate Halloween?
Aren’t we supposed to stay home on that night?
Why are glorifying the devil?
Naturally we answered all the questions. Who created the day? God! So if He created the day then why would we dedicate the day to the devil? We accept the word,
Psalm 118:24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
This post really isn’t about all of this per se. This post is about something that’s really been stirring in my soul. I am wondering how we call ourselves the army of God and then we go and hide on a day that someone deemed the devil’s day.
In any war there are two generals. They count the cost of the battle and determine whether they can win or not. I guess in this case we failed to listen to the general’s orders and we went home in defeat. I wonder if we understand our dominion mandate and what that really means? By stepping out on a night that is supposed to be evil and participate in a town square event in the middle of our city, I believe we took back the night. When we played a game where the children who attended, were given a marshmallow and a sling shot and told that they had to slay Goliath, many asked us the story. We told about great King David and a lot of kids didn’t know the bible story at all. By loving some kids enough to plant a seed into their souls, giving them a snack and teaching them a bible story, we took Sunday School to the streets. We were taking dominion.
Even that, isn’t the point of this post. The point is, knowing the bible the way we do, what made some turn and run in fear? We became like Elijah after a big victory, turning and running from Jezebel. Maybe it’s exhaustion, maybe it’s a self-esteem issue, maybe it’s because we don’t understand our power and our Father’s power, or because we thought were alone. Whatever it is, there are many who haven’t bowed to Halloween and are ready and waiting to gather together and take back the night.
Something To Think About
An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie… – Alexander Pope
When Sin Becomes Normal
My husband was dropping off some paperwork at a believer’s house. The woman invited him in and this being her new home she proceeded to show him around the new place. She even showed him the bedroom she sleeps in with the man she is not married to. I guess when sin becomes normal there is no need for pretending even with the man you call Pastor.
What is it that shuts down our reactions to right and wrong? When a person who doesn’t have a personal relationship with Christ does the same thing we excuse it as ignorance but is this the same answer for a believer?
Could it be that a believer may have walked away from their relationship with Christ so that the still small voice has gotten quiet and since we no longer hear it we take it as approval? Could it be that the world’s call to do what everyone else is doing has just become too enticing to not take advantage? These are the questions stirring around in my heart as I write. I want to learn from this. For you see, I was many things in my youth, many worldly things, but now that I have come before the throne of grace and love and surrendered my life, my desire is to learn. My desire is to want what is best for me and to never stop hearing the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
Recently, my friend came over my house. I heard myself spilling out about two dreams I’ve had about someone and how I was worried about them. Only afterward, did I think it was gossip. This conversation was not about my friend nor about me. At first, I excused it for the reality it was. I wanted to talk about my feelings with someone that I knew I could trust. Then, I had to come clean and repent. It doesn’t matter what I want, it doesn’t matter that the Lord has put this person on my heart, it doesn’t matter that I don’t have someone in the physical realm to talk to about it, it matters that I do the right thing. I never want to become so dulled that I don’t recognize when I blow it.
In order to keep that up though it must become routine and habit that I go to the Lord for sustenance and examination. In the same way that I go to the kitchen to get something to eat when I am hungry, and then choose what is good for food, I must go to the Lord to feed my soul. I’ve got to exercise my faith that when I am feeling alone with too many responsibilities and no one to share them with that God will be my confidant and He will direct my path. I’ve got to remind myself of the scripture that comes to mind and not give in to what people say is normal. I must choose a different path.
Therein lies the answer of when sin becomes normal. It becomes normal when I reject the teaching I’ve had, and the teacher Himself, and I succumb to what I want rather than what is best for me.
It’s Important
Getting Out Of Debt
With our economy tanking more people are looking at ways to cut costs. Here is a great article on how some people were able to just that!
RETREAT!
It’s time to go to retreat. It sounds funny that we drive off to go to a retreat that we hope will advance our relationship with Christ, but I’m praying for a few days of some serious revelation and relaxation! See you in a few days. I have no idea whether I’ll have Internet or not, and it doesn’t even matter!
Be A Good Girl
I came home from the weekly TLC meeting and jumped on the treadmill to expend some energy and unwind. Listening to this song that defined who I was so desperate to become in my 20’s. I wonder how many other women feel this way?
This is why I’ve loved my spiritual journey. I no longer worry so much about being good. I now just work at what has been given to me, all the while, I try each day to find some peace, some love, some meaning, some contentment and above all abundant life. The rest seems to take care of itself.
That I Would Be Good
By Alanis Morissette
that I would be good even if I did nothing
that I would be good even if I got the thumbs down
that I would be good if I got and stayed sick
that I would be good even if I gained ten pounds
that I would be fine even if I went bankrupt
that I would be good if I lost my hair and my youth
that I would be great if I was no longer queen
that I would be grand if I was not all knowing
that I would be loved even when I numb myself
that I would be good even when I am overwhelmed
that I would be loved even when I was fuming
that I would be good even if I was clingy
that I would be good even if I lost sanity
that I would be good
whether with or without you
So True…
I received this email from my mom… So true…..
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven’t thought about it, don’t have it on their schedule, didn’t know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I’ve tried to be a little more flexible.
How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn’t suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word ‘refrigeration’ mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched ‘Jeopardy’ on television?
I cannot count the times I called my sister and said , ‘How about going to lunch in a half hour?’ She would gas up and stammer, ‘I can’t. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain’ And my personal favorite: ‘It’s Monday.’ She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!
We’ll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We’ll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We’ll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of ‘I’m going to,’ ‘I plan on,’ and ‘Someday, when things are settled down a bit.’
When anyone calls my ‘seize the moment’ friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you’re ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.
My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It’s just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
Now…go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to…not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? When you ask ‘How are you?’ Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, ‘We’ll do it tomorrow.’ And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say ‘Hi’?
When you worry and hurry through your day, it’s like an unopened gift…. Thrown away…. Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
‘Life may not be the party we hoped for… but while we are here we might as well dance
…or said another way …
“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass…. it’s about learning how to dance in the rain.”
Pastor Susan 