Day 10: Drawing Closer to God (Communicating Challenges Faced)

This evening, 19 years ago I married my husband in a magical Renaissance themed wedding. As I sat across the table from him at dinner, I was struck with how far we have come and overcome. It is easy to see God's hand in things after the fact but I can honestly say that I was seeing God's hand in our conversation tonight as it was happening. Learning to communicate is by far the most difficult thing for a  majority of people. It certainly has been challenging for me because I have a natural tendency within my temperament to not express my needs. Not being able to express yourself comes back to bite you in the butt with anger, resentment, bitterness and the love fading from your relationship. Thanks to knowing about how God created me, needs, weakness, strengths and all has been the catalyst to the most growth I have ever had including those super growing physically years when you are a baby. My weaknesses are being overcome with my understanding of God and his word, with relying on Him more and more. My needs are being met because I no longer have the fear of rejection and can assert what it is I am needing. My limitations are fully recognized and accepted for what they are and how they are the very reason I need God. I love my husband no matter his imperfections and he loves me no matter mine and God is working on each of us to grow towards the perfection that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

Getting the Recognition We Need

Matthew 6:1 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

This verse always makes me think of how I have in the past "bragged" about my giving. I would not admit that it was really bragging but justifying it by thinking of it as sharing to inspire others. The truth is when we are speaking to others about our giving we are in need of recognition for doing something good, however, our recognition should come only from God. We have to remember that when we give as God wants us to he will be saying to us "well done, my child". Lord I am sorry for taking my bragging to those around me when it is only you that I should seek recognition from. Help me to hold my tongue and speak my proud of myself for giving moments to you. Amen.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 333

Do you ever think of God as your Father? Apparently, when Jesus taught the disciples how to pray this first part in calling God “Abba” was revolutionary. An intimate relationship with God as our Father was unheard of. Think of the most intimate relationship you have? Now, imagine that same kind of relationship with God. I can picture a father and son sitting on a pier together fishing or a girl holding her daddy’s hand as he leads her to her school. And what about a young lady who has just had her heart broken by her boyfriend and her dad just holds her in his arms as she cries. Our Father in Heaven is this kind of father. He is the one we can talk to about anything and everything. He is the one who will guide us as we move forward through life and he is the one who will wrap us in his loving arms when we are hurt and in despair. It brings tears to my eyes as I think of my wedding reception and the dance with my father. He was crying throughout the entire dance he was so filled with the emotion of love for me and how I was all grown up. Our Father in Heaven cries when we cry, laughs when we laugh, is sad when we are sad. There is nothing that compares to the love God has for us but the relationship with our earthly father or mother is a glimpse of what our relationship to God can be.

The beginning of effective prayer is the recognition that God possesses a father’s heart, a father’s love, a father’s strength and a father’s concern for the best interest of his children.  http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/lord-teach-us-to-pray-john-hamby-sermon-on-prayer-how-to-49000.asp?Page=2

Luke 11:2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 324

Reflecting is such a powerful tool to use for growth. I have been doing it more lately and love the insight I gain from the experiences I have. Yesterday, I realized that I am not a giving person towards my husband in the ways that he needs but in the ways that I want to do. My selfishness is getting in the way of truly meeting my husbands need for recognition. I can’t tell you how many times he has done something for me and my response is either a pathetic thank you or non-existent. He gives and gives to me and my return rate is way too minimal. Reflecting gave me a chance to really look at what I did and how he responded to see the truth of my sin. Sin is like that. It masks itself to the point you don’t recognize it as a sin but reflecting allows you to put a magnifying glass over it and see it for what it really is. Take a magnifying glass and look over your experiences today and reflect on what those experiences show you.

Okay, and to make the point stick even more the sermon at church on Sunday was about saying “Thank you”. Talk about God putting an exclamation point on the insight he brought me.

2 Timothy 1:3

 ... I thank God for you—the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 235

Listening is a skill that is essential for success in life and for your relationship with anyone including God. I have heard the complaints at my job about various people’s lack of listening skills.  This complaining stems from not feeling validated or recognized because you aren’t being listened to. Anger comes into play especially if this non-listening is on-going. I dealt with my own angry feelings about the email issue I am having a work that has been very disruptive, taking time away from my productivity and basically driving nuts. I finally thought I need to address this issue with the right people so I put together an email and sent it off. Before the end of the day, I was told it was to be worked on and the next day found it to be true that it is being worked on. It feels good to have been listened to. In reading from chapter 13 in Acts, Paul describes how the rulers and the people didn’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah even though they heard the readings from the prophets every Sabbath. They probably knew the prophets and their prophecies forward and backward in their heads but somewhere along the line those words from the prophets never got into their hearts. You really have to use your heart to truly be listening to what God has to say to you. You can read the bible day in and day out but if your heart isn’t hearing it, it goes nowhere, no growth is happening and no fruit is blossoming. I know that I am guilty of this. Everyone can have bad days when your heart just isn’t into it. Maybe you aren’t feeling well or you are preoccupied with some life issue or task that needs to be done. We have to ask God to forgive us and pray for the Holy Spirit to help us hear with our hearts. Lord, forgive me for my lack of focus, my distracted way of being with you in your Word that does not bring forth the fruit you would like to see with. Help me to find the time and place that will be the best to have that focus and give myself to you completely. With you all things are possible. Amen.

Acts:13:27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 212

My daughter and I went to see the new movie "Brave". It was a fantastic movie filled with good laughs, scary moments and a great message. The main theme of the message is about pride. I found myself curious about this word. It's one of those words that you know what it means but you don't have the words to actually define it. So, I did a little research and found pride to be considered the sin that started all sins. This is the sin that Lucifer had that led to the fall. Pride is the excessive belief in one's own abilities that interferes with the individuals recognition of the grace of God. I found a quote that says it very well: Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas said of Pride "inordinate self-love is the cause of every sin (1,77) ... the root of pride is found to consist in man not being, in some way, subject to God and His rule." There is a very good article about pride that is well worth reading at http://www.allaboutgod.com/sin-of-pride.htm.  It says the opposite of pride is humility. It is like fighting fire with water. It gives two good examples of pride from the bible and talks about how to recognize pride which is very subtle and how to combat it. I am thanking God for the gift of this movie that shows how pride tears things apart and how humility mends them. I pray that others that watch this movie who are suffering from this sin of sins will finally come to recognize the truth. Take a look at your own life, as I will do myself, and exam your motives. That is a good start... 

1Peter 5:5 All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."