"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." John 15: 5-8
I knew it had been a while since I had last written here, but didn't realize it was that long ago! I am praying for the discipline to write here regularly again and pray also that some of you will help hold me accountable to that!
God has really been convicting me of a bunch of stuff lately. For the past month or so, our pastor, Tim Parsons, at Center Point Church in Lexington, has been sharing a wonderful and challenging series about the Pursuit of Holiness. He told us he took some of the material from a book of the same name by Jerry Bridges, but all I can tell you is that God is using Tim's messages, combined with some books, a Bible study I've just started, some recent daily devotionals to all work together to help me process some things I've been stuggling with for about two years.
I truly praise God for all that He's been showing me throughout the past few weeks. It's not that He hasn't tried before, but because of His use of all these things, I am now listening intently and am convicted to be obedient about some things I've let slide for too long.
A few weeks ago I was asked to informally share a few minutes about what God is doing in my life at a women's gathering. Well, since He's been doing so much, it was somewhat hard to choose. I always have to organize my thoughts in writing before speaking to a group - at least when I know in advance I'll be saying something. Otherwise, I tend to go in tangents &/or babble!
Well, yesterday, in an effort to keep it informal, I didn't use my notes. I just hope what I did end up sharing glorified God, just as I hope and pray what I intended to share glorifies Him. Because God truly laid this message on my heart, I want to share it now with whomever might read this.
Some of it I did share yesterday, but I think this is the better version! :-)
I want to share a quote a friend put on facebook last week. You've probably heard it, but I thought it was great!
Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders in dismay and says, "OH NO, she's awake!"
I want to be that woman! This is truly my heart's desire and I believe it is God's desire for each one of us.
I want to be so grounded in my faith and so initimate in my walk with Jesus, that the enemy runs and hides when he sees me! I want the love of Jesus to shine out so brightly from me every day in all I say and all I do that even if I don't mention His name, believers recognize me as their sister in Christ and unbelievers will be curious enough to ask me why I am who I am.
I have to tell you, I have a LONG way to go! But, I really want to get there!
God has used Tim's series and other materials I've read lately to convict me of so many things, but most importantly, He's used them to reawaken my desire to deepen my relationship with Him in total surrender.
So, here's the primary point I want you to take away from what I'm sharing today -
There is NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING more important in your life than your relationship with Jesus Christ. NOTHING!
That is something I've had "head" knowledge about for a long time, but keeping that surrender and commitment consistently deep in my heart has been a roller coaster ride for me. I am ready to get off the ride and fully experience the abundant life Jesus Christ has for me - every day!
That is obviously not something that comes easily to me. Don't get me wrong, I am totally in love with Jesus. I do love Him with all my heart and soul. I never truly doubt Him. He is my savior, my comfort, my joy, my teacher and so much more.
But, I still struggle with having the self-discipline to totally let go of me each and every moment of each and every day and replace me with total surrender to Him. That's truly my heart's desire and His desire for each of us.
Some of you have heard about how God brought David and me to Lexington about 2 1/2 years ago. My job was eliminated in May of 2007 and I have to tell you that the next four months were some of the best of my life so far. Especially my spiritual life - we totally turned the situation over to God and committed to being obedient to wherever He led us.
God gave us bright neon signs that made it clear we were to come to Lexington. He wanted us to leave our home town of 24 years, our church family of 16 years where we were very active and most of all, our family and friends. He made it so clear it was His will, we didn't question, we simply obeyed. Not for the job I was offered, but because we knew God wanted us here for some reason.
I expected Him to continue with neon signs and when He didn't, after about four months, I sort of woke up and thought, "OK, God, was our obedience enough, can we go back home now?!"
Instead of drawing closer to Him, I started drifting asway - not totally, but letting worldly things, like being politically correct at work instead of sharing His word with co-workers, interfere. I didn't get invloved in anything awful, but I spent less time with Him and I began feeling unsettled and wanting to move back to BG. It took me months to even hang photos on the walls of our new home.
God has made me realize recently that I am missing out on so much He has to offer here for us and through us, because my heart has still been in Bowling Green and distracted by what I think I'm missing there. One of the scriptures God used this week to help me recognize that was John 15: 5-8 (quoted above).
It has taken almost two years now for me to totally accept that He really does want us here. I still am not sure exactly why, but He does. And I know that as long as I allow Him to, He will help me find consistent contentment here for as long as He wants me here. First and foremost, I am going to work harder at totally surrendering to Him and keeping Him the focus of all I say and do each day. I'm going to strive to be that woman who makes the enemy shudder!
I have recently been aware of several women my age and younger who have died suddenly and unexpectedly. Which brings me to the other point I want to make today. Do not wait to commit your life to total surrender. If you have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior, I beg of you to do that today. If you are a beliver, I pray that you will commit with me today to work harder on your relationship with Jesus Christ sincerly striving for holiness and total surrender to Him.
I think we'll be amazed at the truly abundant life He has planned for each of us!
My prayer for today:
Father God, thank you so much for never leaving my side - even when I don't give you the attention you deserve. Thank you for reminding me how much better my life is when I allow You to be in the drivers seat instead of me. Lord, I want the abundant life that I know you want me to have. You have shown me areas in my life I need to work on improving my self-discipline and I know that only through totally surrender and reliance on You, can that happen. Thank you, Jesus for teaching me these lessons and for your mercy and forgiveness. Thank you most of all for my salvation. I love you. I pray all this in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
