365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 133

My thoughts have been on control and releasing that to God so it doesn’t surprise me that I am seeing this in and around me. My daughter and I went to see Jurassic Park 3D this weekend. It has been a top ten favorite movie of mine that I have seen too many times to keep count. My daughter had seen it only once so I knew it would be scary but she could handle it. The best part of the movie was feeling her jump in her seat beside me in the abrupt frightening moments of the movie. The main theme of the movie is about control. The owner and creator of Jurassic Park was delighted by all that he had created and was admonished by the other characters for his lack of humility. Releasing control to God requires humility but humility requires understanding the scope of who God is. And though you read and understand who God is, you have to feel that in your heart for it to really take effect and give you the humility required to submit to God fully. Like all things, it is a process we must go through and a daily regiment needs to be done to continually move forward in progressing to full submission to God. Jesus was perfect in this and is our example. We won’t attain this state of perfectness in this life but it is and will be a blessing to our lives here if we keep marching toward that goal.

Romans 8:6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 81

The drama continues at my workplace… Monday tasks were switched around and Tuesday they were switched back to where they were before. The head honcho was not happy with our visiting worker from India who made this switch before evaluating everything. She came up to my desk later in the day and wanted to train me how to record something in another program but I was in the middle of trying to get the mail finished and she just expected me to drop it all and listen so I did. I thank God for giving me patience with her because she wants to make sure of things but doesn’t want to hear my answer. She wants a yes or no but there are things I have to point out to her so she fully gets the whole process. Than, just as abruptly as she came she will walk away and go to another person’s desk and interrupt them without a care. I don’t know how long she is here for but I am sure the frustrations she brings will keep coming only because she is trying to do her job and has the stress of reporting to the head honcho who likes to be in control of everything. So, I am trying to remember that there is another part to her, the part that God loves no matter what.

Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 49

I did it! I have applied to Colorado Theological Seminary for the Masters in Clinical Pastoral Counseling. The moment I clicked the submit button I felt such joy and peace. It was time to get the ball rolling. There is so much to learn and I am excited about this journey. It feels much like what Peter says in 1Peter 1:8 (see below). I have had the faith to step out and get this going and I know that I will reach that end goal of having my own Christian Counseling practice. All things have a process that has an end result. Faith in Jesus = salvation and eternity in heaven. Evil desire leads to sin which ends in death. Applying for school leads to learning which gets you to a degree. I am just tickled pink with starting my journey that will end with a degree and a future in which I will be equipped to help hurting people find the joy that the Lord can bring us.

1Peter 1:8 Though you have not seen him, you live him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 48

I am finding that the fruits of the spirit are very much interconnected at least when it comes to joy. Joy is definitely connected to peace and love. And I am betting it probably associates with the other fruits as well.  The fruits of the Spirit can be like a fruit salad rather than individual fruits. The truth is when the Holy Spirit is within us, we do have all of the fruits and the more we call on the Spirit to ripen this fruit within us, the more we are growing and our fruits are getting peeled and cut and are turning into a delicious fruit salad. This is much like the analogy of the potter and the clay; God molding us into a beautiful pot. Everything is a process. We grow and change and get closer and closer to being what God intended for us, to be more like Jesus. This goal of becoming more like Jesus will give God so much joy. When we truly love God, we will have that motivation to do and be all that He wants us to be and we will be making Him joyful. Relationships are a give and take kind of thing. How well am I doing at truly loving God?

3John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

365 Days of Prasie Challenge-Day 244

I have been steadily working on getting my photos organized in folders on my computer. It is a monumental task to say the least and probably one that most people face but will never tackle because its just so much. This is definitely a task that you can't just sit down and get done in a couple of hours. I started the task a few months ago. The easiest way to orgainze seemed to be by putting named events and activities inside a folder for the whole year. So I have about 20 folders with names like Mother's Day, Sledding Fun, TJ Bday Party, etc. It has become so much easier to find photos. I finally got 2010's folder done last week and this week I have been uploading them to Costco so I can finally get some photos printed for the layouts I have created that are sitting around waiting for the photos. I can't wait to show you some of them!!! When I think of the task of organizing my photos, it makes me think of the task that God calls us to. What is that task? The main task God calls us to is to spread the word of the gospel, share about Jesus and what he did for us, live the Word the best we can. This is a monumental task and like orgainizing photos has to be done as a process one step at a time. The sooner you begin working your task the more you will accomplish with it and untold blessings will come from it. Think about what you need to work on that will help you with your task for God. Is it learning to pray more consistently? How about reading the bible everyday? Maybe you just need to work on an attitude change? Stop and take some time to really think about what is the next part of the process you need to work on for the task God calls us to. Here is a link to an article that talks about the three scriptures that capture the gospel in a nutshell that we can memorize and share with others. http://bondchristian.com/the-whole-gospel-in-only-3-verses-yeah/

Mark 16:15-16 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.