Revelation 3:4-5 "Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments. and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments,and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels."
Today I finished my Slave book, and absolutely loved it. I learned so much about what a slave for Christ should look like, and some changes that need to be made in my life, and also was reminded to be grateful and thankful to Christ daily for making me His slave, and that I am His. I will be forever grateful for the sacrifice that was made on my behalf and don't deserve it, but I am continually humbled and in awe of Christ and His love for me.
I shall be starting a new book tomorrow that I am super excited about, I saw the name of the book one of the blogs I follow, and he recommended it, so I thought I would give it a whirl!! I'll give you the name and my take on it in a later post!! I will leave you with a quote from James Montgomery Boice that was written in the book that I was struck by...It is 82 degrees outside today, so I am gonna go enjoy the weather. Happy Monday.
"There is no such thing as absolute freedom for anyone. No human is free to do everything he or she may want to do, There is one being in the universe who is totally free, of course. That is God. But all others are limited by or enslaved by someone or something. As a result, the only meaningful question in this area is: Who or what are you serving?...Since you and I are human beings and not God, we can never be autonomous. We must either be slaves to sin or slaves of Jesus Christ. But here is the wonderful and very striking thing: To be a slave of Jesus Christ is true freedom."
I think I may have posted this video before, but I thought I would re-post it again. It is absolutely one of the most tear - jerking videos I have seen. I first saw this video when I was at bible school, and I remember having tears streaming down my face (so did everyone else) =)..I am just in awe of this man's dedication to his wife, and taking his vows seriously. This is truly what the Lord meant I think when he designed marriage. It is absolutely beautiful. I pray I will someday have a man that loves me this much, and is this faithful to his vows. Enjoy. And grab some tissues.
This phrase from George Mueller struck me today as I read, and what a convicting quote, and just the echo of my heart for sure, as this is my desire as well.
"I am not only content simply to be a hammer, an axe, or a saw, in God's hands; but I shall count it an honor to be taken up and used by Him in any way; and if sinners are converted through my instrumentality, from my inner soul I will give Him all the glory."
I was also reading in Psalm 16 the last 2 days, really searching it, looking at it, and meditating on it. I think it is my new favorite Psalm. What great truths are in this chapter.
Psalm 16 Preserve me O God for in You I put my trust O my soul, you have said to the Lord; You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You.
As for the saints who are on the earth, They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.
Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer. Nor take up their names on my lips.
O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance.
I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel, My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices, My flesh also will rest in hope. For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy, At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
I love what I am continually learning from the book Slaves. Today's chapter was SO SO good. I loved it. I want to share with you some of the statements that I am taking away today from the chapter and what I am thinking about and dwelling on today, and pray that I continue to remember!
Slaves of Christ are to be 'always abounding in the work of the Lord' 1 Cor. 15:58 'trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.' Eph. 5:10 and ever seeking to 'understand what the will of the Lord is.' Eph. 5:17.
Genuine believers are characterized by a deep love for Christ, and that love inevitably manifests itself in obedience.
Christ's lordship is wholehearted submission, loving obedience and passionate worship.
The pattern of a true believer is one of continual repentance and increasing godliness as they grow in sanctification in Christlikeness
To be a slave of Christ is the greatest benediction imaginable, not only is He a kind a gracious Lord, but He is also the God of the universe. His character is perfect; His love is infinite; His power matchless; His wisdom, unsearchable, and His goodness, beyond compare.
To be a slave of Christ is also a position of great privilege, for we are in the company of none other than the King of the universe!
I thought I would blog a little today on what is going on in my life right now and what I continue to learn from the Lord daily. I am so thankful for my Master and that He continues to daily love me, forgive me, and grant me His grace that is so undeserved. My reading of the book Slave is going well. I am learning a lot of what a true slave/master relationship looks like. I am continually humbled and continually thankful for Jesus and what He has done for me. I am so undeserving and such a wicked sinner, yet He bought me and loves me. I need to daily take up my cross and follow Him. Trust in His sovereign will, and just obey.
Life on the work front is going well. I am quite exhausted by the end of most days, but I am thankful for the 2 jobs the Lord has blessed me with. Yesterday was quite the day when I took on the task of watching the kiddo's cousin Ellie, who is almost 9 months old. I forget how much work babies really are and that they pretty much need to be watched at all times. So it was quite the exhausting day with the 3 kids, and I am grateful for the experience. It was fun at times. It reminded me that I need to daily ask the Lord for HIS strength and wisdom as I teach and train these kids, and that they may see the Lord at work in me, a sinner in need of a daily Savior. I want the fruits of the Spirit daily portrayed in my life, I pray that the kids see that. Life at the salon is well. Still enjoying it and the many benefits that come with it!=). I soon will just be working that job for the summer, so I will have a bit more free time coming up!!
So I am staying busy with my jobs, and on my days off I am enjoying working out (and working out on days I work too =) Meeting with my mentors for coffee, and of course my favorite of all sleeping! This is my life thus far. I live a very blessed one. Happy Tuesday.
"On that day, the Lord will grant unto His people an abundant reward for all that they have done. Not that they deserve any reward, but that God first gave them grace to do good works, then took their good works as evidence of a renewed heart, and then gave them a reward for what they had done. Oh, what a bliss it will be to hear it said, "Well done, good and faithful servant,"--and to find that you have worked for Christ when nobody knew it, to find that Christ took stock of it all.--to you that served the Lord under misrepresentation, to find that the Lord Jesus cleared the chaff away from the wheat, and knew that you were one of his precious ones. For him, then to say, "Enter in to the joy of the Lord," oh, what a bliss will it be to you."
I am only on chapter 2 and already have learned so much about what a true slave looks like. I am so glad that I am a slave of Jesus Christ. I am daily grateful for the work done for me on the cross and I owe everything to Jesus. I am not even worthy to be in His presence yet, but by God's grace; the work done for me at the cross, through Jesus. I can.
So what is being a slave consist of? It demands a deep affection for Him, allegiance to Him, submission to His Word.....I want this. I want this so desperately, My prayer over the last week or so is that I may KNOW Jesus, LONG to be saturated with His word. Submitting to all He asks of me. Without questioning. Thats where I struggle the most-- asking God why He does things or asking why He is making me do things, instead of just doing and trusting. We are called the heatedly obey and honor. I have been bought with a price. I belong to Christ.
Pray for me. Pray that I would submit to Jesus without questioning, that I may LONG for Him daily. Pray that I would trust. Pray that I would have the compassion that Christ has for all people. Pray that I would love hard.
"We are called to compete like athletes, to fight like soldiers, to abide like branches in a vine, and even to desire His Word as newborn babies long for milk."
It was a beautiful day outside today, and I was able to enjoy it a little this morning on my morning run. It was quite beautiful and I was loving every second. I also had the unexpected blessing of spending about 2 hours outside this afternoon when I was "called in" to nanny the kids while their mom had a meeting. We had great fun riding bikes, laying in the driveway and Leah had great fun with my camera as well, as you can tell. Its great to be outside again and get some fresh air, Hopefully more days like this are ahead!!!
Its that time again!!! Time to start a new book to go along with my personal time. I am once again excited to learn and grow from what the Lord is going to teach me in this book, as always I will keep you posted on all the Lord is teaching me!!
"For my determined purpose is that I may KNOW HIM--That I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with HIM, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His person more strongly and more clearly, and that I may in the same way come to know the power out flowing from His resurrection." Philippians 3:10 amp.
This is my prayer today and everyday. I was struck by this verse today as I was reading-- and I long for this daily in my life. I want to KNOW Jesus better, Be in awe of HIM daily. Without Jesus I am nothing.
I was very much convicted this morning in church during Pastor DeBurgh's sermon. He is starting a new series on the heart of Christ. I am really excited about this new series, I think its gonna be really good and convicting. I really wanna grow deeper and become more like Christ everyday, and this is a step in the right direction, listening and growing from what Spencer is going to teach us.
Today he taught on compassion. I already knew I was gonna be convicted from the moment I sat in my chair this morning and saw that, because I feel like I am not a very compassionate person. And I was right. I was convicted. My prayer now is that the Lord would give me the compassion that He showed to so many in the Bible-- Such as the lepors..Those smelly, rotting flesh people, He didn't back away, HE HAD COMPASSION on them. Loved them. Listened to them. I am not very good at any of that, but I praise and thank the Lord that He is working in me, and is and will continue to be faithful. I want Jesus' heart. I want Jesus' eyes.
These people had needs, and Jesus met them. I want to listen to people better, I want to stop talking and listen. I want to love ALL people better and deeper. These following statements are notes that I jotted down from the sermon, I hope they make sense :)...
What does compassion do? -Leads to doing -I want to love people -I want to love as HE loves -Reach out to them - I want to cultivate compassion over what I see.
So this is what I will be working on!! I am such a work in progress, I praise HIM for what He is doing in my life, and thank HIM for what He continues to show me. I want HIM to be glorified in all I do.
