Monday, January 19, 2009
Week 4 (Jan. 19th - 25th)
Hey everybody I want to encourage you all to continue to discipline yourselves in this if you are struggling on days. I know that i have had to play catch up already with this. Lets work at this together and encourage one another as we continue forward. I look forward to reading about how our God is working in your lives and challenging and encouraging each one of you. God bless
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The story of my last 2 weeks has been nothing but crazy. I have been traveling all over the place and running from one place to another. If I add up the amount of miles I have traveled in a vehicle it would easily be over 3500 and I feel that I haven't had time to just sit and relax. Right now I feel that I am starting down the path of busyness in my life. I desire to have some much needed time to myself where I can reflect and rest while growing closer to the Lord. Just some thoughts on how i'm feeling right now....
ReplyDeleteI hope you all have a great week and I pray that your time in the word will be one that truly transforms and deepens your relationship with our Heavenly Father. I hope you all make it a great week.
I know how you feel Keith! This whole week I kept putting off my readings because I usually do them at night and then I come home and I'm tired so I end up going straight to bed. Well today when I received your email and I read "keep reading the bible to get our hearts ready for this summer", it was an immediate wake up call! I needed it. I read and caught up tonight and I feel so much better. It really is amazing just reading the word makes you feel so much closer to God. I'm so glad you sent out that email.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if anyone else is dealing with this, but just remind yourself that God loved me enough to let me live, I can do this for him. Maybe that will motivate you....
I was having breakfast with a friend of mine this morning and we were talking about our weeks and all that has been going on. It is real encouraging to have a brother, sister, friend, mentor, etc in your life to be able to talk with. I have found that some of my closest friends are the ones that I spend time talking with about things in my life that are beyond normal every day conversation. I encourage you all to seek out somebody to talk with in regards to the stuff in your life that needs communicating. (That was a random aside from the reason for this post)
ReplyDeleteIn my prior comment for this week I posted about the busyness of my last couple of weeks. I have started to make some adjustments in my day for the sole reason of spending more time with God. I don't start my computer when I get to work and I have made it a goal to get to work earlier to have more time for myself. These simple adjustments have really helped me in regards to the stress that I was feeling earlier in the week. I say this not to say "Hey look at me but to encourage you to make changes if you are struggling in the word etc."
This morning while reading I was hit by a verse in Matthew. It is right after John the Baptist has been beheaded and Jesus was told of John's death. It simply states in Matthew 14:13 "When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place." This one verse really hit home for me especially where I am right now. It is so refreshing to know that Jesus, God on Earth, the Son of the Almighty needed his private time for himself. This really makes me stop and realize how important it is for each of us to have some personal private time. We are shown this same desire by Jesus in the Garden before his death. This is something that Christ shows us through his life and I firmly believe that we need. We need to have private, intimate, and real time with our Father who loves us so dearly. I encourage you all to find time in your busyness to spend time solely with our Heavenly Father. I want to encourage you to talk with Ozark Staff if you have anything pressing on your heart and want to communicate with somebody. I'm excited to hear how things are going in each one of your lives. Make it a great day.
I have the opportunity to get to know a lot of Louisiana campers working for Louisiana Ozone. One of the things I do is a small group via email with a couple girls since I live in Lafayette and they are in Baton Rouge. Lately they have been asking a lot about the topic forgiveness and I just thought it was awesome that this week we learn the story of Joseph. What a great example of forgiveness! I used this as an example about forgiveness and how Joseph not only forgave them but reassured them, offering care to them and their families. His forgiveness was complete. He demonstrates how God graciously accepts us even though we don't deserve it. Because God forgives us even when we have ignored or rejected him, therefore we should graciously forgive others.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite verse out of this story is toward the end when his brothers do not think Joseph will forgive them in Genesis 50:19-20, "But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
Although Joseph's brothers thought there would be no forgiveness, yet God used Joseph throughout the time of famine to really help people. I feel like the longer we hold on to un-forgiveness, the Lord cannot use us the way He wants and intends to. I find that anytime I have some bitterness in my heart and I reason it out to "they don't deserve my forgiveness" I humbly remember what Jesus did on the cross. He didn't have to do what He did. We sure as heck didn't deserve it! But, that's how much God loves us and forgives us so why can't we forgive?!?!