My Divine Assignment: To Encourage Others

A dear friend who has gone to be with the Lord once told me I was her Barnabas which Biblically means "encourager." I never saw myself like that, but as I've grown in my walk with the Lord it seems that is my desire. I hope that what I share here will be an encouragement to you as we trust the Lord - for great is His Faithfulness.

My Divine Assignment: To Encourage Others.
In Christ's Love, Shelley



KEEP His JOY IN TRIALS, TEARS & TRIUMPHS ~~ A WOMAN'S HEART SHOULD BE SO COMPLETELY LOST IN God THAT A MAN MUST SEEK Him TO FIND HER ~~ Our desire to learn God's Word must be greater than our need to breathe ~~











Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Move the "S"

     It seems that this post will be a continuation of my last post which was a continuation of the post before that. I guess I can claim my first "post series" & I think that phrase has something to do with sports also, but I'm not a follower in that arena - I leave that to my hubby. 
     A few days after my prior post on "resigning" I was reading my morning devotions for August 28th.  The title: He Reigns.  It speaks of God being sovereign over the entire universe & He reigns over my little corner of that universe.  "Your Heavenly Father may not always reveal Himself as quickly (or as clearly) as you would like. God is in control, He is here & He intends to use you in a wonderful, unexpected way. He desires to lead you along a path of His choosing.  Your challenge is to watch, to listen , to learn...and to follow."
     Then I looked back at the title & I thought "move the S."  When I reSign myself to God's will then He reignS in my life. And as God loves to bring the little things together in our lives I had just purchased a book for my little girls that I used to read to my girls - The King Who Rained by Fred Gwynne (anyone remember him?)


Even the title of this book can be drawn in.  For as we resign our lives to God, He will reign in them for His Glory even when it rains !!!!  How can we ever doubt a God that is so involved in every detail of our lives even when we don't acknowledge it.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.  Proverbs 3:6
Let us not hesitate to allow God to be our All-in-all so that others will see His Son Jesus Christ in us.  Let us say to the world, My King Reigns !!!!

    

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

I'm RESIGNING !!!!

Many, many years ago I went to a Christian Women's Retreat for the day with some friends.  My girls were fairly little at the time. One of the study sessions I took was titled, "Where Do I Go to Resign?" I'm guessing many young mothers & some times even us "more mature" women may feel that way on occasion. There is no doubt that with small children, whether you work out of the home or not, it can be overwhelming. Even for those who no longer have children at home, there are days when we may want to say, "I resign ( to give up one's position) !"
     If I remember right, the Bible teacher may have used a bit of deception for her title. Her premise for the time she shared with us was not about resigning from things in our lives that cause stress but resigning ourselves to the Lord.  Wow, there's a big difference in those two lines of thought.  At first, the other ladies in the room seemed to sigh & yet laugh at the thought that there really isn't any place to go to resign from our lives, especially if Christ is the Lord of every area of your life.
     No doubt, it would be much easier to put up a post-it that says "I QUIT !" than to fall on our knees before the Lord & say, "Your will & not mine be done Lord.  I RESIGN (to give up deliberately) all I am & all I can be to you for Your Glory."
     I'd like to add resign to our "R" list from the last post.  I believe it should go between repent & restore.  And it brings a simple Scripture verse to mind:  He must become greater & I must become less.  John 3:30. I believe that is the Christian definition of resigning.

Friday, August 19, 2011

The R's Have It....

     On our girl's get-away weekend at South Haven MI we took some amazing pictures of the Sunday sunset.  We had gone into a store that had the alphabet tiles for spelling out words so Abbi was also taking pictures of the alphabet & before I knew it I was looking at EVERYTHING to see if it looked like a letter.    You've probably seen some framed pictures which have been created this way with words such as hope, joy, faith or names.  The idea is to take a picture of something that looks like the letter & not necessarily the letter in a word displayed some where.
    As I awoke the other morning, I was reminded of some words that I try to keep in mind.  I had written them down at one point but can't find them, so I plan to make my own alphabet picture with these words.
     As the post says, The R's have it - Repent, Restore, Rest, Renew, Refresh, Relax.  The words themselves need no explanation but let's apply them to God's Grace in our lives.  First, we must come to Him in REPENTANCE, not merely sorry for our sin but turning away from it & replacing it with Godly living.  When we do this, He RESTORES us to a right relationship with Him. We then can find the REST we so desperately need in a mach speed world which bombards us with immorality & trivial things to fill our time.  After the rest, our minds can be RENEWED through spending time with Him daily in His Word & our hearts will be REFRESHED so that we can fulfill our call to share the Gospel through our words & deeds.  The final step is to RELAX knowing that He is in control & He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...  Ephesians 3:20  So the next time you are hoping to have some R & R, add the other 4 Rs & see what a difference it can make.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Green

When I was a child green was the color of grass & a crayon.  Now "green" has a whole new meaning, much of which has to do with conserving energy & taking care of the earth.  Even Christians cannot agree on exactly what taking care of the earth means.
Green is not one of my "colors" as I rarely wear it, well, actually I can't think of anything green in my closet.  Teal is as close as I get.
Outside my window at work, I have full view of a building that has a green metal roof.  I commented to a patient one day that I really didn't care for the green roof.  Well, this patient, Waynie, reminded me that God made a whole lot of things green.  Of course I couldn't argue with that.  That comment was made many years ago & I haven't forgotten it.  When I look around my home there is green grass -well maybe not so green right now due to the lack of rain, but the pine trees are green, as are my tomato plants, zucchini, leaves on my roses, lettuce, spinach and of course most of the weeds.  There is no getting away from green in any shade and that's okay.
     In my search for Scripture verses for green I found that the NIV contained 22.  Of course the most well know is in Psalm 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters...  I'd like you to take the time right now & imagine that picture of yourself, no matter what you are dealing with, in the green pasture, the soft grass with the blue sky & white clouds and the still waters just few feet away.  What a description of God's peace.
As you go about your day, reflect often on Psalm 23, think about all that it tells us about God & His care for us.  There is no better place to be than in the loving arms of God with our Shepherd, Jesus Christ right beside us.  Blessings on your day.







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