His grace is sufficient

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is suffiicient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore i will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficuties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

-Paul (2 Corinthians 12: 7-10

Here are a couple quotes a friend shared with me recently.


"Take a deep breath and let it out. Relax. God wants you to get where God wants you to go more than you want to get where God wants you to go. Take another deep breath. Let it out!"

GOD WANTS TO CARRY OUT HIS PLAN FOR YOU. I have often found myself begging God to lead me where He wants me to be. Forgetting that he WANTS to lead me there, He is all about it. I can trust that He will.


Another quote, by Jim Elliot:

"Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God."

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Wherever you are, BE ALL THERE. What do I believe to be the will of God in my life? Where is He where I'm not noticing?

HOPE

The following words are not my own, but were written recently by a friend of mine. I wanted to pass it on. Enjoy.

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Word of the day: HOPE

Romans 4:18 - "Even when there was no reason to hope, Abraham kept hoping."

Woah!!!!!!!!!! No reason to hope... but he kept hoping anyway... Hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had. We are people that hope. We hope the economy will improve, that our relationship can be salvaged, that our addiction can be overcome, that healing will take place in any area of our lives. Hope means something is possible.

But how destructive can NO HOPE be? I mean, if you get there, what's the point? Why keep going? Why try, expect, or struggle? The thing that kept Abraham hoping even though there was no reason was Faith.

Not just in anyone, but faith in God, His power, His ability.

"Yet Jesus did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised" - Romans 4:20-21

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Me again.

Just wondering. Is it easy for God to keep His promises? Is it easy being God? He's capable of doing things on a scale beyond my wildest dreams...Are big things harder for him than small things? Then again, there's the idea that "There's no such thing as 'hard'...You either can do it, or you can't." It's hard for me to keep up with 20 people in one lifetime, and God keeps up, omnisciently with every human being alive and then some. I guess I'm not God, am I...Nope. Not in a million years. (Is that funny to Him?)



"When I am afraid
I put my trust in you
In God whose word I praise;
In God I trust.

I shall not be afraid...
What can flesh do to me...?"
-Ps. 56




Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. -Romans 12:2

The universe He made...He knows how it works.

I was taking an unfamiliar route on my way home the other night when I ended up getting lost in the woods, or at least a woods-y neighborhood in Memorial. :) I tried to find my way out by just plowing forward and trying to navigate through the 'hood, when I finally came to a dead end. I had been avoiding retracing my steps but eventually had to give up and admit that doing so was the most certain way out of the woods.

"Hmm," I thought. "The most certain way to get out of the woods is to retrace your steps."

The idea struck me as something relevant to my current situation. Enjoying analogy that night, I also realized how I had been holding a pretty tight grip on the wheel.

Earlier today I'd pulled off of the shelf a book that I had been really into three years ago while working after undergrad. It's called "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People". It talks about operating with clear purpose, and making decisions by asking yourself if the thing you're considering is in line with your ultimate purpose.

I remembered that today when I was thinking about how my life is a gift from God, who made the universe to work the way it did. I just came out of a discussion about Justice, and how some people think God is unjust. We had to remember that God is the one who created the universe and the concept of justice to begin with. So we His creatures cannot tell Him what justice is. Once we trust that His Word is a true explanation of how His universe works, rather than try to fit the confusing things in the Bible into our framework of understanding, we might as well say, "This is how things work, and I want to try to grasp this."



14What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15For he says to Moses,
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,

19One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" 20But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' "[h] 21Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?



All that to say, God has created me for His Glory, and the best thing I can do for myself is to submit my life to that and enjoy the ride, because God promises good things for us now and, especially, later. So I'm figuring a good question to ask myself when making decisions big or small is, "Does this glorify God?"...Does this work toward my ultimate purpose in life...?


It's late...I'm learning as I go along here, so I most definitely welcome challenging comments.

The Right Steph

I've been in some situations recently where I am not sure what to do. "Hmmm...should I do this? Is there enough time? Maybe I should do that other thing instead...What do I feel like?"...Recently, I was split between options and ended up thinking to myself, "What's the right thing to do?"...


...Answering that question was surprisingly Easy. It was clear to me what the right thing to do was. It may not have been the thing I FELT like doing, but realizing it was the RIGHT thing to do made me want to do it!


As I confront more of these situations, I continue to realize that when I ask myself what the right thing to do is, the answer is surprisingly clear.


:)



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The right thing to do right now? Get some rest.

Hallelujah. :)

WWJD...revisited

Today a friend pointed out to me that asking the question, "What would Jesus do if he were living my life?" has limitations in that Jesus' role on earth was-let's face it- a little greater than that of the rest of us. It was his responsibility to be not only a good, sinless person, but also to fulfill a purpose that was unique to Him alone. Jesus Christ was living his life on earth to be obedient to HIs Father, Yes; and being obedient, for Him, entailed following through with a completely unique and Tall order...answering a calling that God would not ever give to me or to any other human being to walk the earth. In light of this unique calling, it's hard to ask myself "What would Jesus do?" and answer with a course of action that I would expect to emulate exactly!

So maybe, in seeking life direction, a more appropriate question would be: "With Jesus' heart for people, what would I be doing with my gifts, resources, and time?"...or..."What would Jesus encourage me to do?"

What would Jesus encourage me to do? Seek out broken spirits and look to heal/restore with music, a listening ear and open heart, companionship, and God's Word.

That's my initial thought.

Also, with humor.


*Uplift*


And stuff and things. It's 3am, I'm out of here!