June Thoughts
It has been a LONG time since I have posted. I have been making notes and carrying things around with me too long. Let me try to pen on paper what has been going on with me lately.
I am learning some very hard things in my life. I am undergoing some fairly severe trials right now. My husband has been out of work since October. This has been a huge trial for us as a family. Schedules and tensions are extremely trying. We are all learning to say we're sorry. That is a good thing!
Some of the things I am learning personally in this are HARD things to learn. I remember people the Lord put in my past that were going through some pretty significant trials. As I reflect on my attitude back then, I can see a lot of "self righteousness". What I mean is....we can have a different attitude with people that are going through trials until we have to go through them ourselves. It is easy to give "biblical advice" and tell others what they should or should not do. Now I am learning to "go through" myself. I am learning to "walk through" what I only knew about second hand before. I am deeply repentant of that attitude. That is a hard, but good thing to learn.
I am harder on myself than anyone else is. I am particularly hard on myself regarding my spiritual walk. I entertain thoughts sometimesthat God is displeased with my walk of faith, etc. Recently the Lord ministered to me through Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is....." It just popped out to me that God does not expect me to have faith in myself, but faith that "He is". Funny, I just took a big sigh of relief at that. Well praise God that it is not faith in myself that pleases Him, but faith in Him! On a funny note...I was sharing this with a friend at church and she politely reminded me of the end of the verse too! ....and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him!" Ooh, that is just good!
I have been studying the book of Ephesians in my quiet time. This morning I was prompted to open "My Utmost For His Highest" to May 15th. The Lord reminded me again....."Remember what you are saved for..that the Son of God might be manifested in your flesh". He is doing a work in me that I must WAIT for the finish.
This walk with Christ, this "walk in faith" is not about me. It's all about Jesus Christ in me. The battles I face are because satan wants to render powerless the witness of Jesus in me. He is doing everything in his power to accomplish that in my present circumstances. I am extremely thankful that I have knowledge of this and that I have the Word of God in me. Some days I walk in complete despair. Other days I CHOOSE to entertain self pity. I am very thankful that God does not allow me to stay there. I have learned to call despair, depression and self pity "sin" because that is what it is. I have a lot of knowledge of the Word of God in me and I can turn and walk in faith a lot faster than I used to. That is a good thing too.
Another thing I am learning....How did Jesus handle anger? 1 Peter 2:23! "who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously." Jesus wants to manifest this same behavior in me.
My personal soapbox: Don't believe everything the media tells you. Learn to seek out truth for yourself. Let's discuss the war for instance. I am not stating an opinion for war, or against war. I just want to make a point about truth. I know someone who personally went to Iraq. He is a person in high places that went there to see if what the media is portraying is correct. It is not! The "bad" that is going on in Iraq is a very, very small percentage of the population. Unfortunately, the media capitalizes on it to make it "seem" like it is the biggest majority of people there that do not want us there etc. The people there are very thankful for the freedom they now have, for the government that is put in place, etc. You are not hearing of these things on the news. There are more people killed DAILY in America by the process of abortion than are killed in Iraq! (I might add that abortion numbers far surpass the numbers in 9-11 also.) They do not tell us these things on the news.
One thing that really stood out to me recently.....there are over 6,000,000 people in Bagdad, Iraq alone. I had no idea that the population was that many. The picture that I get of Iraq from listening to the news is far different. They also sway large numbers of people by putting out "poll results". Beware. Don't believe everything you hear on the news. Seek the truth!
Proverbs 14:12 AND Proverbs 16:25 both say the same thing: "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." (Is it any wonder that God thought to put that verse in the bible twice!!)
The DaVinci Code: I do NOT recommend reading this book, nor going to see this movie. It is a blatant attack on the Word of God. I read the book because a friend asked me to so I could give an opinion. It is meant to do the same thing that satan did in the Garden of Eden. That is, shed doubt on what God said! It is no different all these years later. The game plan is the same. The Word of God is the absolute truth. Don't toy with or accept any suggestion that it is not complete or that it is wrong.
What book do I recommend? If you want to read an exciting book for fun, read "House" by Frank Peretti. Most of his books are exciting, can't put them down action, but they usually have a strong spiritual message. I highly recommend Nightmare Academy by him also. It is an absolute eye opener!! (I'm not going to suggest what it is about, because then you won't read it for yourself!)
Lastly....I had an extra personal encounter with the Lord just today. I was sitting under some extremely good preaching. Praise God I am still tender and that the Holy Spirit can move me to powerful conviction. I was just sitting there listening and suddenly realized He was speaking to me! I was moved to lay ALL of my present circumstances on the altar and WAIT, take my eyes off myself (my hurts etc.) and firmly fix them on the Lord Jesus Christ! This was an exciting time for me personally.
Thanks for stopping by today. I'll be posting July Thoughts at the first of the month. Come back for a visit soon.
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