Empty Words
What am I doing with my life? Who am I really living for? Does my theology in action (my day to day choices/actions) match up with the theology that I say I believe in?
I've been reading through Matthew lately and thinking about "empty words." That just as someday, individuals will declare: 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' And He will answer, 'Depart from me, I never KNEW you,' so too is it EMPTY for us to claim that Christ is our Treasure, when our lives declare otherwise.
A prayer of repentance:
Father, I need your help. I cannot walk faithfully on my own. I ask for your grace and your Spirit's empowerment to live a life that is worthy of and that validates the Gospel. Give me more of you, and less of me, Jesus. Help me to mortify my pride and give me humility- help me to talk less about being faithful, and actually be faithful- by being in your Word, communicating with you through prayer, and keeping my eyes fixed on the prize. Remind me that YOU are the Author and Perfector of my faith, and that I am completely dependent upon you. Lord may you TRULY be All in All to me, and may the way that I live provoke curiosity and opportunities that would be for the glory of your name and the futherance of your kingdom, Amen.
A Call To Gratitude
I’ve been inspired.
Through my good friend Alyssa, I sovereignly “stumbled” upon the blog of a woman name Ann Voskamp, and a new journey upon which I am about to embark.
On her blog, Ann has been listing gifts from God that she sees in her life.
She states:
” I am one waking from slumber … from the stupor of indifference and ignorance. Too often I miss Him, oblivious, blind. I don’t see all the good things that He is giving me, gracing me with, brushing my life with.”
I am one who can completely relate. In a culture where I have so much.. too much, I miss so much. Regretfully my eyes are so clouded by self, that the grace of God goes unnoticed hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second.
And so, this is the start of an effort to refocus my vision and to give thanks for the evidences of grace that are currently being missed.
I encourage you, brothers and sisters, to focus on the gifts of grace that God has given uniquely to you. Let us give the Giver of all good things the gratitude He so deserves.
Psalm 118:28
“You are my God, and I will give thanks to you..”
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***The following is the beginning of my list of One Thousand Gifts***
1) A hotel room to rest in while my husband is at work.
2) The jolting of my laptop brought about by kicks coming from inside my tummy.
3) The new pink journal that awaits the listing of many more gifts.
4) The stirring in my heart from the Spirit to pray for an orphan I know, who is under the effects of national devastation.
5) The heat that is keeping me warm as it rains outside.
6) The calming sound of the rain.
7) An ultrasound picture that shows my little boy, Alistair's, face, and represents the comforting news that he was okay.