Purpose...God's Way

This devotional spoke deeply to me. As I look back over life's experiences, I echo these words.

 Let my heart be broken with the things that break your heart, oh God...Let me lay down my life and take up Jesus' life...let me not wander in the wilderness of selfishness where I stubbornly cling to my own interests and try to fit your plan into my plan. Let me be fully surrendered, Lord divine, and true to Thee...

"I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some —1 Corinthians 9:22

A Christian worker has to learn how to be God’s man or woman of great worth and excellence in the midst of a multitude of meager and worthless things. Never protest by saying, “If only I were somewhere else!” All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them. Unless we have the right purpose intellectually in our minds and lovingly in our hearts, we will very quickly be diverted from being useful to God. We are not workers for God by choice. Many people deliberately choose to be workers, but they have no purpose of God’s almighty grace or His mighty Word in them. Paul’s whole heart, mind, and soul were consumed with the great purpose of what Jesus Christ came to do, and he never lost sight of that one thing. We must continually confront ourselves with one central fact— “. . . Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

“I chose you . . .” (John 15:16). Keep these words as a wonderful reminder in your theology. It is not that you have gotten God, but that He has gotten you. God is at work bending, breaking, molding, and doing exactly as He chooses. And why is He doing it? He is doing it for only one purpose— that He may be able to say, “This is My man, and this is My woman.” We have to be in God’s hand so that He can place others on the Rock, Jesus Christ, just as He has placed us.

Never choose to be a worker, but once God has placed His call upon you, woe be to you if you “turn aside . . . to the right or the left . . .” (Deuteronomy 28:14). He will do with you what He never did before His call came to you, and He will do with you what He is not doing with other people. Let Him have His way."

Oswald Chambers

It is my personal testimony that when we surrender our

rights, our will, and our dreams to God,

He gives us a purpose and a Way,

making life very fulfilling.

Miracles...

The question then becomes...

Am I willing to see and acknowledge His miracles,

even if they don't feel like miracles to me?

Am I willing to lay down my plans,

my hopes, my dreams

for the sake of the greater picture

that I cannot even see nor ever will I see it,

as it stretches out behind me in generations past,

and lies unspoken and untrodden as of yet

in the generations that shall come after?

Am I willing to be wholly His, 

totally yielded and still,

as clay in His hands,

to be molded and shaped into

a vessel of honorable labor,

whatever that labor and calling will be?

Problems of living abound.

Imperfection touches everything on earth.

Sorrow is seen around every corner,

no matter how much mirth there may be.

Am I willing to let God use these problems

to show forth His greatness,

miracles that only He can perform?

Or will I retract my heart and not allow

Him to work,

thus hindering the witness of Christ,

and stunting my growth,

and stalemating my relationship with Him?

Thoughts to ponder...

And, 

behold, there arose a 

great tempest

 in the sea, insomuch 

that the ship was covered with the 

waves: 

but he was asleep.

And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, 

Lord, save us: we perish. 

And he saith unto them, 

Why are ye fearful, 

O ye of little faith? 

Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" 

(Matthew 8:24-28) 

Jesus was a great Example of

 resting in God, 

and then letting God

 be glorified through Him 

as He calmed the storm. 

I want to be like Him!

Jesus, Savior Pilot Me

Altering Heredity...

"'If you are going to be My disciple,' 

Jesus says, 'you must give up your right to yourself.' 

Jesus Christ came to do what I could not do, 

viz., alter my heredity, and the point for me is, 

am I going to let Him do it?"

 --Oswald Chambers,

 in Biblical Ethics

 from The Quotable Oswald Chambers

Perhaps a slightly controversial subject,

but it reminds me of what I pondered 

a few years ago on 

personality...

People these days blame or excuse 

their actions on their personality

'way more than they should.

Did you know that if you do that,

you are doing nothing different, really,

than people have done since

the Garden of Eden scenes of blame?

Personality...

might be something to it,

but not nearly as much as we think.

OR

perhaps we need to put personality

in the same category with our flesh,

and let God decide what of 'me' is

needed in His work and what needs

to be put away...

We celebrate 'me' way more 

than we should...

those perceived personality traits

(like 'being black and white', 

or being a neat freak, 

or preferring a good time

 to facing reality, 

or ignoring issues,

or being talkative, 

or shy,

etc etc etc)

Truth is,

God just may over ride that personality

in some cases, or in many,

and require us to be different 

than we think we really can be.

Isn't that the point of sanctification?

Just pondering...

think about it.

Let us be up and doing things God's way.

Love and blessings,

Marcia

Inspired by Example...

Have you a burden for a loved one and it seems as though prayers for the well being of their souls goes unanswered year after year? I have experienced and do experience this, and I was inspired years ago and again recently by the account of John Newton's mother.

"John Newton (1725-1807) was the only son of a sea-captain who experienced the grace of God in a most dramatic way. The most important person in his life was his mother. He tells in his autobiography how he loved to be with her. His father was not usually at home. She prayed for him and with him. She prayed that he would someday become a minister of the Gospel. He knew that “she prayed for me all the time.” When he was only 4 years old he could read the Bible and had learned many verses from the Bible and the Catechism. But then she died. John was only 7 years old. But her work would never be forgotten."

 

John Newton and Amazing Grace

 

Keep praying.

Keep loving.

Keep living the Gospel

in all its simple power

that changes lives even today.

You never know how much your life

will impact the lives of those in

your world,

even if it seems that your life

is ignored, snubbed, mocked,

rejected and misunderstood,

sometimes even by those

who claim the name of Christ.

 

You may even be called to

'die in faith', not realizing the answer

to your prayers for  your loved ones

in this life.

 

Keep going.

The way is rough and rugged,

covered in dense fog at times,

but over all is the

Gospel which is the power of God

unto salvation to as many as believe.

 

Weeping endures for a night,

but joy comes in the morning.



Morning Musings...Giveaway Winners Announcement...

Hello friends. 

Almost I thought this day was passing by without my posting the winners for the giveaway! I had fun doing this and hope to do one again next season that comes...already I am thinking of fun things I could use for a giveaway for winter!

The winners of this giveaway for the book, Homemaking, are:

Jackie Wurtz

Rhoda Zimmerman

I will be seeing you both soon,

Lord willing...

and if not, then I'll contact you

for your addresses.

Thank you to all who participated

in this giveaway.

I love relating to others

and enjoy the fun of

giving away blessings

where I can. 

Love and blessings to all,

Marcia

PS

My morning musings were this:

We were created for relationship with God,

which spills over to relating to others.

Oh that we would lay down our lives

for our friends,

and love the Lord wholly.

Relationship cannot be forced.

Sometimes we have to love from afar,

when we are shut out of someone's life

because of their anger, fear or pride.

I recently experienced going back to a place

of previous hurt and sorrow, 

a place I don't often go to 

physically anymore.

As I sat there, remembering things, I felt myself

deeply compassionate for a friend in the audience

who has hurt me and others deeply.

I found myself praying fervently in my spirit

that she would know Jesus fully and be 

completely changed by Him.

After I came home, the Lord showed me

that THIS is what the power of Christ can

do when we yield ourselves to Him.

He can make us WHOLE.

He can make us complete.

He can make us love even those who

have despitefully used us.

Hallelujah for the life changing power

in Jesus Christ.

One Thing Remains

by David Wesley

In Ministering...

"Ministering in everyday opportunities means

 being available in any of the seemingly

 random surroundings He has engineered for us. 

The things Jesus did were the most menial of everyday tasks, 

and this is an indication that it takes all of God's power in me

 to accomplish even the most common tasks in His way. 

Can I use a towel as He did? 

Towels, dishes, sandals, and all the other ordinary things 

in our lives reveal what we are made of more quickly

 than anything else. 

It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us

 to do the most menial duty as it ought to be done."

 --Oswald Chambers, 

from the My Utmost for His Highest Perpetual Calendar.

This message is especially precious to me as recently, 

God asked me to fast over a weekend as I struggled through

some perplexing things, saying He had some things to 

tell me.

So...I obeyed, and He called me to go deeper in

my vision of wifehood and motherhood.

Some specific things He asked to to change

for the ongoing good of my place in the family

and for helping my husband

I was already heading towards,

but my! What answers we get

when we ask.

I had to think of this time as I read

the Oswald Chambers' devotional above.

My heart echoes Brother Elliot's words

as well...

I was thinking alot since that weekend

how that, to many, and even to myself sometimes,

the ministry of motherhood and being a wife

may seem mundane and menial much of the time.

However,

if I see it as the ministry I have been given,

to be the hands and feet of Jesus to

my husband and children

then even towels and mops are

instruments of heaven

for the good of the family.

Take heart in whatever ministry

God has called you to,

and throw your whole heart into it.

You are being a world changer,

making a difference if you

put your heart into being

fully engaged where He called you.

Thanksgiving on Thursday...

I've been thinking about seasons the past while,
 as my favorite season is here.
 I am not letting myself dread the snow that shall follow,
 nor the long winter that will stretch out in seemingly endless days
of cold and ice and snow and cold and...
ok, maybe I am dreading it a little! :-)

As I chatted with a close friend recently,
we were talking about how God puts people into our lives,
 and sometimes just for a season are we responsible for some work
He calls us to do in their lives.
Then He moves them on for others to water or
 plant some more where we are not called to.

And I pondered...
(as I am often wont to do...)

Why hold onto what was?

Times and seasons come and go.
 Sure, our hearts hurt when it seems our work
was unappreciated, totally torn asunder by wolves,
 or little accepted in those He called us to nurture
 at different times and in different seasons of our lives.

But following God means that He will clearly call,
 give strength for the work,
 and then move them and us on at
the right appointed time.
We don't have to insist on
 keeping up a work which He has brought to an end.

That was good counsel my friend gave me.
 I appreciate that about my godly sisters in Christ
 (and my husband too, of course!)
They can help me figure out what season I am in,
or what is happening currently in my life.

So today, I give a huge praise report for the godly counsellors
 I have been given.
They are not many,
but they are certainly sent by God
and they do their job well.

disclaimer:
this post is about thanking God for the counsel of the godly
NOT about ignoring or discrediting the very real and raw
pain that comes to the human heart when broken
relationships happen...
Just thought I'd mention that.

Morning Musings...Encouragement...part 4

"The good man has his enemies. 

He would not be like his Lord if he had not.

 If we were without enemies we might fear that we 

were not the friends of God,

 for the friendship of the world is enmity to God."

~Charles Spurgeon

My thoughts today are the final installment of this subject of

encouragement...

I sat today in a courtroom of friends who were there to

support a family adopting two sons into their family.
And as I sat there, I thought of friendship,
and of relationship...
and how important God thinks these things are,
and how He longs for it between people and Himself,
and how He planned for it to be well oiled
amongst the people on earth.
I thought of how satan comes and destroys,
kills and steals relationships,
when people's hearts are not fully engaged 
in God.

I ponder...

Encouragement is so vital to the Christian life

because without it, the wilderness is harsher,

the winds blow stronger and the individual

staggers more easily under the blows of the enemies...

Be a friend today.

Your friends have enemies not of their choosing,

if they are the friends of God.

And although they do not ask for the temptations 

that come from the rejection, neglect and 

personal affronts that come from enemy 

territory, they need all the help they can

get from their friends in God...

GO...

encourage.

Perhaps the spark has dimmed in their eyes.

Maybe the candle God has lit in your own soul

has the purpose of lighting their spark again.

(Ps. 18:28)

Love and blessings,

Marcia

Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?

Proverbs 20:6

In Confidence, Walk On...

"Once you have the right relationship with God through

 salvation and sanctification, 

remember that whatever your circumstances may be, 

you have been placed in them by God. 

And God uses the reaction of your life to your circumstances

 to fulfill His purpose, 

as long as you continue to

 'walk in the light as He is in the light' (1 John 1:7)."

 --Oswald Chambers, in My Utmost for His Highest.