Christ Works in ME

Philippians 2:13 ~ "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."

This verse really got my attention this time around. I know I've read it a million times, but this time I sat and stared at it for like 5 minutes. It dawned on me that my simply WANTING to do God's will is, well, God working! Of course it is Him working when I actually DO His will. But now it smashed me in the head that I cannot will to fulfill God's purposes unless it is Him working in me! If God is not working in somebody, that person cannot wish to do the will of God.

An encouraging thought, is it not?

An aspect of God I never really noticed or thought of before

I love it when people are nice to me for no reason. When I'm talking to someone and they take a particular interest in what's up with me I feel special. When somebody sends me an email, private messages me, posts on my facebook wall, or otherwise goes out of their way to think of me when I'm not even there with them it just about makes my day. I think everybody likes it, but it means more to some than others :) I try to do it to other people since I like it so much. But for some reason I never thought that God ever thought about it. I read in Genesis 15 that God randomly comes up to Abram and says,

"Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."

How cool is THAT, thinks I!!!! Our God is a thoughtful God! Abram wasn't about to attack an army with a ball-point pen, or stand up to 50 giants with one bouncy ball as a weapon. It was just random--God knew when Abram needed/wanted a boost.

This is what I have noticed and now very much like about God. I wonder how many aspects of Him I'll discover as time goes on? It's just amazing that God has so much to Him anyway!

By the way--go drop a note on your friend's blog, it's nice to do :)

Encouragement

One of the things God's been impressing on me lately is the matter of encouragement. There's a guy at our church who is really good at it. He always has a compliment and says it like he really means it. He's always ready to listen with his whole body no matter what you're talking about and add a few comments. He makes you feel special by encouraging and maybe poking a little fun here and there. Words are something I put a lot of stock into, and I don't really feel like I know how I did on something unless somebody says so, so I really can appreciate compliments on things. I thought the other day, "If I like it so much, maybe other people do too!" I don't very often go out of my way to tell somebody that their nails look cute, but I should! The Bible even tells us to build each other up.

My Favorite Psalm EVER!!!

Today the Bird woke me up early saying the peed the bed >:( So I cleaned everything up and did some Bibletime. My favorite Psalm was a good pick-me-up for a day starting a little crummily. I have the NIV, but I like it in NKJ better.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.

He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it shall not come near you.

Only with your eyes shall you look,

And see the reward of the wicked.

Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,

The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.”

I hope your day DIDN'T start out like mine, but even if not, read this psalm over a couple of times and keep it with you! It is Monday after all.

Draw me

I don't like country music.

At all.

Never.

Or so I thought.

Our pastor played the Keith Green song, "Draw Me" today in the service, and even made himself late making a slideshow showing the lyrics. And boy am I glad he took the time because I don't like country music, but these lyrics are some of the greatest I've ever seen. We were talking about distractions in church, and about how ANYTHING is sin if it keeps you from where you should be with God. I've found myself just a little distracted lately this last week. Not really because of any one thing, and not a whole lot. Just a little, whispering, tricky slip of the guard. Today's message and lyrics helped snap me back to. So what are these lyrics?

"Draw me, oh, draw me, please draw me, my Jesus.

Into your presence, where I cannot lie.

My soul is so thirsty, I cannot endure it.

And if I can't get closer, I surely will die.

Take me, oh take me, please take me, my Jesus.

Quickly, before I forget that I'm lost.

For so many times, my mind has deceived me,

That I really don't have to carry the cross.

That I really don't have to carry the cross.

I just need to know how to pray.

My wicked desires block the way,

Sometimes I have grieved you away,

I don't want to do that today.

Help me, oh help me, please help me my Jesus.

Save me from sins that I thought were all gone.

Kill me with kindness, and break through my blindness.

I know till I'm dead, I can never live on.

I know till I'm dead, I can never live on.

I just need to know how to pray.

My wicked desires block the way,

Sometimes I have grieved you away,

I don't want to do that today.

Draw me, oh draw me, please draw me my Jesus."

Usually when I put lyrics on here I regret that I can't just let you listen to the song, but not this time! lol! I put the parts I want you to think about or that are really great in red, as I usually do.

Don't let your guard down today! Stay with it! Stay in it! Anything that keeps you from God's best is sin, no matter how good it is normally.

Dry Bones

In Ezekiel 37, God led Ezekiel to a valley of dry human bones. They'd been there a long time, but God asked Ezekiel, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

He replied, "O Sovereign LORD, you alone know."

God then told him to prophecy to the bones and say, "'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD."

Ezekiel did so and it says there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. Tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. They were now bodies instead of bones, but still dead things.

Then God said, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.' " So Ezekiel prophesied, and breath came into the bodies. They came to life and stood up on their feet. And they weren't just random people - they were a vast army!

Now what was the point of this somewhat creepy event? God afterward said to Ezekiel, "These bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them... Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live... Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.' "

How often do you feel like a pile of dry bones? Your hope is long gone and you're just lying there, figuring that God's done with you. You're in the grave of your own making. God says he will bring you out from your grave and put his Spirit in you - then you cannot fail. He can bring you to life again and you will be a warrior!

What Is Life All About?

The Google search, "What is life all about" has gotten quite a few hits. The very top result is users.aristotle.net, which explains thus:

"You cannot be classified as useless, because you aren't really supposed to have to make yourself useful. Look at the natural world. What is the use of a tree? Well, it has many uses, but it isn't TRYING to be useful. There's the difference. It's just doing what it wants (or so we assume) and in the process of doing that it does its job in the natural order of things. Despite all the rantings of moralists, you are in the same boat. The only way you are ever going to do an ounce of good in the world is to do what you want. Do what makes you happy, or at least what distracts you from your misery.
How, you may ask, does doing what you like do any good? Look around you. Look at people who seem to be trying very hard to be useful. Are they really doing good things for people? Or do they make everyone around them miserable with all their moral uppidyness and incessant busy bodying? I suspect it is the latter. The people who really do others some good are the people who are doing what they like and who aren't very interested in being useful. They are usually interesting to be around, because they are doing things that interest them. They are often fun to be around, because they appreciate fun and know how to laugh and not take anything too seriously. They inspire other people to figure out what it is that they want to do by example, thus causing more people to be interested in life and interesting to be around, fun loving, etc.
Out of all the people we meet in life, these people who are doing their own thing are the people who have the most profoundly positive impact on us and thus make our lives richer in the most fundamental, meaningful way. Can you really call that useless? Sure, working in a soup kitchen will feed people, but if you're being a martyr about it because you don't really want to be there, everyone around you will see right through you and hate you for being moralistic and insincere, and you will end up doing more harm than good. So, revel in your perfect uselessness. It's the useful thing to do."

There are other explanations of equal feeble-mindedness and absurdity for different reasons you may be asking why you exist. They all bash "the moral enthusiasts", God, and anyone that is trying to do something with their life. Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen! Does this explanation of what your life is not disappoint you? Don't you want to have a purpose? Don't you want to know the TRUTH?

Have I got good news for you! You are NOT useless! Or worthless.

If you're wondering about the meaning of life, read the book of Ecclesiastes. If you think life is meaningless, you will find that many elements of life are. Wisdom, pleasures, toils, advancement. Some of these things ARE life to many people. If you live for them, your life is meaningless. But in the last two verses of Ecclesiastes, Solomon states the conclusion of the matter, the meaning of life.

"Fear God and keep his commandments,

for this is the whole duty of man.

For God will bring every deed into judgement,

including every hidden thing,

whether it is good or evil."

That is the duty of man. Fear God and keep his commandments! Trust and obey! It's not, "do what makes you happy" because pleasure is meaningless as well. You will only find fulfillment if you carry out God's plan for your life. He's excited about it! You can be useful to God of all things! Are you ready to find life and find it more abundantly? Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God. And you are not worthless - to God you are a precious, special gem. There is so much more the Bible has to say to you - why don't you give it a shot?

La Roca

We had a Mexican church using our building for about ten years. They grew and grew and finally they said that they were moving to a bigger place that could hold all of them better. Yesterday we had a combined service to see them off. Alameda Hills played two songs in English, La Roca played two songs in Spanish. La Roca picked the songs that we knew in English like How Great Thou Art to sing in Spanish. It was neat to worship in a different tongue! The different languages mingled and our pastors both preached a little. At the end, Alameda Hills sang Lord I Lift Your Name On High in English... then played it while La Roca sang it in Spanish!

Dad said that may be a little like what heaven will be like - different languages, different people, and a whole lot of singing!

I wish we'd combined services more often.

Encouragement

Last night our own Rommel planned a worship night and opened it up for everyone in our church to come. As we all know our church is small, but only our core group (less than 20 people) showed up. I was a little bummed, thinking, "how come the church doesn't come to the church stuff?" We played some worship songs (pretty badly for the most part), and Clayton, Dad, and Ms. Jeanne shared with everyone. Dad's was really good and encouraging, and made me happy that at least the people that WERE there were there! We got into groups and prayed and talked, had communion, played some more songs, and had a great time connecting with God and with each other.

(NOTE TO SELF: SCREWTAPE LETTERS is on your iPod! Don't forget it!)