Some thoughts from Louise...
I don't know about things being much different no matter what season we are in concerning what time of day we spend with the Lord. I am in a different season than you, but I still find that I need to spend that time with the Lord early in the morning or it just don't get done. Otherwise other things clamor for my attention and it never happens. Besides I find that when I do that, then I have the Lord's strength to face the earthly challenges of the day. Also helps to keep me focused on the Lord's presence with me. Just sharing my thoughts from my experience.
and a comment from Karen...
I agree Louise, that is an advantage of being in the season we are in how about it.
I enjoy hearing from those who have already walked the road I am on! Thank you ~Charity
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
Distractions
I yelled at my phone this afternoon, right as Delton yelled at the computer. I had to laugh. This wonderful thing we call technology is not always a blessing. Rhoda recently sent me some thoughts on the subject, and I am sure we can all relate! ~Charity
From Rhoda...
I sensed the Holy Spirit nudging me to pause and ask myself, “Why do you keep checking your email?”
I wasn’t sure if it was God or me answering, but my thoughts intertwined with His Spirit whispered: You keep coming back because your heart longs for connection with a friend.
Yet no matter how many times I checked email, it was never enough to satisfy my craving....
..... I realized I’d let the pendulum swing too far and now I was checking email repeatedly, trying to fill a God-created need for relationships with a white screen and black alphabet keys.
My mind keeps remembering these words from Renee Swope as it keeps speaking to my heart as I navigate a life filled with "electronic sirens" calling for my attention (namely email, facebook, text and internet ). These tools keep me connected with grandchildren, friends, prayer requests and good Bible teachers; but how do I keep a balance in my life with real relationships? I am pressing in to being more sensitive to God's nudging on how to live this out.
Rhoda
~~~~~~~~~~~
A week or so ago, Amy sent me this email in response to my last post. It flows along with Rhoda's comments...
~~~~~~
Prioritizing my time has been on my mind lately. Very simply, I sense a simple directive to seek God first. For me, this means reading my Bible and praying before anything else gets done in my quiet time. Before I check my schedule, read a blog, check facebook, respond to emails, call my mom or any other good thing, I first need to open my Bible and take time to talk to God. This is a unique season of life for me...I may only have a few minutes uninterrupted each day. If I don't first seek God, the moment is gone and so is my chance to be refreshed in my spirit. In another season, I may have hours of quiet where it may not matter whether my time with God comes first, second or third. Just a simple way that God is telling me that my time with Him is important to Him, and He is giving me the direction I need to make time with Him happen! Blessing to you today!! See you Sunday! ~Charity
From Rhoda...
Sisters in the
journey,
I am responding to an earlier
email from Renee Swope...
I checked my email as soon as I woke up. Then I
made breakfast and checked it again. Had my devotional time and checked it
again. Ran some errands and checked it on my phone. When I got home, I checked
it once more.
I sensed the Holy Spirit nudging me to pause and ask myself, “Why do you keep checking your email?”
I wasn’t sure if it was God or me answering, but my thoughts intertwined with His Spirit whispered: You keep coming back because your heart longs for connection with a friend.
Yet no matter how many times I checked email, it was never enough to satisfy my craving....
..... I realized I’d let the pendulum swing too far and now I was checking email repeatedly, trying to fill a God-created need for relationships with a white screen and black alphabet keys.
My mind keeps remembering these words from Renee Swope as it keeps speaking to my heart as I navigate a life filled with "electronic sirens" calling for my attention (namely email, facebook, text and internet ). These tools keep me connected with grandchildren, friends, prayer requests and good Bible teachers; but how do I keep a balance in my life with real relationships? I am pressing in to being more sensitive to God's nudging on how to live this out.
Rhoda
~~~~~~~~~~~
A week or so ago, Amy sent me this email in response to my last post. It flows along with Rhoda's comments...
Charity, I too have days when I don't
feel God as near and others where His presence just envelops me as I go about my
daily routine. Some of that may have to do with my human ness and the fickleness
of our emotions, hormones, etc. :) But I find, a big part of it for me, is with
what I am saturating my mind. My thoughts, values, priorities, self esteem, joy,
and peace are SO much determined by how much time I spend with God. I recently
saw this quote....
and it really spoke to me.... I spent such a large part of my life being
manipulated by the Devil and his lies and I didn't even recognize them. But now,
if I find myself feeling confused, condemned, rushed, pushed, etc. I cry out to
God and (in my mind) rebuke the devil, because I am NOT falling for his lies
again.
I heard a sermon recently in which the evangelist said something to the
effect of..... did you know the devil doesn't necesssarily hate us? The reason
he is out for our damnation is because it is his (the devil's) best way to get
at God, because we are what God loves the most! We are God's prize possession
and the Devil is desperate to take us from God - by lying, maniputing, causing
division, and on and on and on and on......
looking forward to seeing you sunday :), amy
~~~~~~
Prioritizing my time has been on my mind lately. Very simply, I sense a simple directive to seek God first. For me, this means reading my Bible and praying before anything else gets done in my quiet time. Before I check my schedule, read a blog, check facebook, respond to emails, call my mom or any other good thing, I first need to open my Bible and take time to talk to God. This is a unique season of life for me...I may only have a few minutes uninterrupted each day. If I don't first seek God, the moment is gone and so is my chance to be refreshed in my spirit. In another season, I may have hours of quiet where it may not matter whether my time with God comes first, second or third. Just a simple way that God is telling me that my time with Him is important to Him, and He is giving me the direction I need to make time with Him happen! Blessing to you today!! See you Sunday! ~Charity
Friday, March 8, 2013
Hearing in the Silence
I wrote the last post at the end of a long day. I felt bombarded, exhausted by a day fighting my old patterns, my own coping mechanisms. How do I break free from all I have ever walked in?
The next morning, somehow, God broke in. I read from Song of Solomons that I am the beloved of my Beloved. That I have ravished the heart of the One who seeks me.
As I pondered these thoughts from scripture, and the truth of what I had been reading in A Confident Heart, I saw that my mind was full of many voices. I was unable to hear the call of the Bridegroom. I was listening to and agreeing with the lies of the enemy. No wonder I was lost!
Yesterday and today, my prayer has been, "God, let me hear only your voice." Over and over, morning, noon, and night, in the good moments and the bad, I am praying to hear only His voice. I am asking for silence in my spirit so that I may hear His whisper. I am asking for an unsatisfied hunger...a hunger that is awaiting the source of all fulfillment.
The previous post was written in faith. This post comes from one who has seen a glimpse of the One for whom her soul longs...
Until Sunday, blessings. ~Charity
The next morning, somehow, God broke in. I read from Song of Solomons that I am the beloved of my Beloved. That I have ravished the heart of the One who seeks me.
As I pondered these thoughts from scripture, and the truth of what I had been reading in A Confident Heart, I saw that my mind was full of many voices. I was unable to hear the call of the Bridegroom. I was listening to and agreeing with the lies of the enemy. No wonder I was lost!
Yesterday and today, my prayer has been, "God, let me hear only your voice." Over and over, morning, noon, and night, in the good moments and the bad, I am praying to hear only His voice. I am asking for silence in my spirit so that I may hear His whisper. I am asking for an unsatisfied hunger...a hunger that is awaiting the source of all fulfillment.
The previous post was written in faith. This post comes from one who has seen a glimpse of the One for whom her soul longs...
He speaks
I listen
He calls
I respond
He asks
I assent
He draws
I come
He sings
I dance
He loves
I worship
I have been blessed by this song as I ponder the journey we are on.
Until Sunday, blessings. ~Charity
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
When I fail
It's not if I fail. It is when I fail. Daily. Even moment by moment. The little failures, the big failures...they combine to weigh me down.
When I am soaking in God's Word, carrying my burdens to Him, allowing Him to reveal to me my true worth...these failures are quickly forgotten, removed from me "as far as the east is from the west." And there are times and seasons that I walk in this close relationship with my Creator, that I sense His drawing, that I walk in His peace.
And there are times and seasons where I forget who I am. When God brings to the surface new levels of healing needed, and I am lost for a time. Needing God, yet blindly trying to find my own way.
It is to this sense of blindness, this inner "lost", that Renee speaks to in Chapter 3: Finding Love That Won't Fail Even When I Do. There are several quotes that stood out to me as I read...I will let Renee do the speaking...
Quotes from A Confident Heart, chapter 3
God is "the unconditional love you are looking for."
Until our hearts find complete security and significance in God's unconditional love, we will never be satisfied.
God put a longing for unfailing love in our hearts because He knew it would lead us back to Him. Only God's unfailing love will fill and fulfill the desires of our hearts. It is the deepest thirst of our souls. Until God's love is enough, nothing else will be.
Jesus invited her (Sam, the Samaritan woman) to worship Him in Spirit by offering to pour the living water of His Spirit into the well of her heart, filling the empty places in her soul.
By being honest about her life and the lies she believed, (Sam) could start turning toward the truth. She could bring the thirst of her heart to Him. Only then would she find confidence in the power of His love and start living in the security of His promises.
If we are doing well, we feel fulfilled. If we are not doing well, we feel empty and life we have less worth.
It's almost as though we wake up every morning with an empty jar, like Sam, and walk around holding it out to people or things, hoping they will fill us. We look to ___________________ to define us.
The wells of our hearts were created to be filled by God alone. The deepest thirst of our soul can only be quenched by Him.
So what do we do when our hearts start tossing and turning with emptiness and uncertainty? We need to stop and ask Jesus to help us see the worth we are placing in other things and the worth we are seeking in other people.
___________________________
This chapter reminded me (Charity) that I can not fix my brokenness. That the areas of hurt, the ways I seek to drown my pain, are areas where I need God. I look forward to reading more in the chapter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How far should you be in the book by now? I hope that this book is a blessing to each of you, and that you are reading it in the way that works best for you. I will post weekly (hopefully) as I read another chapter (hopefully)...but feel free to read this on your own schedule.
I began this blog hoping that it would facilitate an ongoing conversation among the women of the church. I invite you (and beg you :) please let us know how this book is stirring you, the journey you are on, thoughts that come to you as you read, quotes that ministered to you...and anything else that would be a blessing to those in our Lifegate family...from this book or in your own devotional life. Send me an email, and I will post it to this blog. Until we have a chance to laugh together again...blessings!
~Charity
When I am soaking in God's Word, carrying my burdens to Him, allowing Him to reveal to me my true worth...these failures are quickly forgotten, removed from me "as far as the east is from the west." And there are times and seasons that I walk in this close relationship with my Creator, that I sense His drawing, that I walk in His peace.
And there are times and seasons where I forget who I am. When God brings to the surface new levels of healing needed, and I am lost for a time. Needing God, yet blindly trying to find my own way.
It is to this sense of blindness, this inner "lost", that Renee speaks to in Chapter 3: Finding Love That Won't Fail Even When I Do. There are several quotes that stood out to me as I read...I will let Renee do the speaking...
Quotes from A Confident Heart, chapter 3
God is "the unconditional love you are looking for."
Until our hearts find complete security and significance in God's unconditional love, we will never be satisfied.
God put a longing for unfailing love in our hearts because He knew it would lead us back to Him. Only God's unfailing love will fill and fulfill the desires of our hearts. It is the deepest thirst of our souls. Until God's love is enough, nothing else will be.
Jesus invited her (Sam, the Samaritan woman) to worship Him in Spirit by offering to pour the living water of His Spirit into the well of her heart, filling the empty places in her soul.
By being honest about her life and the lies she believed, (Sam) could start turning toward the truth. She could bring the thirst of her heart to Him. Only then would she find confidence in the power of His love and start living in the security of His promises.
If we are doing well, we feel fulfilled. If we are not doing well, we feel empty and life we have less worth.
It's almost as though we wake up every morning with an empty jar, like Sam, and walk around holding it out to people or things, hoping they will fill us. We look to ___________________ to define us.
The wells of our hearts were created to be filled by God alone. The deepest thirst of our soul can only be quenched by Him.
So what do we do when our hearts start tossing and turning with emptiness and uncertainty? We need to stop and ask Jesus to help us see the worth we are placing in other things and the worth we are seeking in other people.
___________________________
This chapter reminded me (Charity) that I can not fix my brokenness. That the areas of hurt, the ways I seek to drown my pain, are areas where I need God. I look forward to reading more in the chapter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How far should you be in the book by now? I hope that this book is a blessing to each of you, and that you are reading it in the way that works best for you. I will post weekly (hopefully) as I read another chapter (hopefully)...but feel free to read this on your own schedule.
I began this blog hoping that it would facilitate an ongoing conversation among the women of the church. I invite you (and beg you :) please let us know how this book is stirring you, the journey you are on, thoughts that come to you as you read, quotes that ministered to you...and anything else that would be a blessing to those in our Lifegate family...from this book or in your own devotional life. Send me an email, and I will post it to this blog. Until we have a chance to laugh together again...blessings!
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