TakeMyHand

 

Ephesians 4:11-16
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

 

I am so thankful for those that have taken my hand and guided me  on my christian walk.  What about you?  Think about it.  Are you thankful?

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One of the greatest speakers I’ve ever heard!  I had no idea!

What an awesome testimony!

Text translation

fear

2 Timothy 1:7

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.


Why are we so afraid to do what God has called us to do?

No, seriously, I’m asking. I don’t know the answer. Wish I did.

It’s not because we don’t want to be obedient to God.  It’s not because we don’t want to change.  It’s not because we don’t want to walk in everything God has for us.

So why is it?

I’m not talking about the rebellious fear, or the fear of losing our friends, or even the fear of failure.

I’m talking about the debilitating fear that completely paralyzes you, wipes your mind completely blank, and makes you question every single thought that pops into your head and word that comes out of your mouth.

The kind of fear that makes you question if what you know God wants you to do is really what God wants you to do.

We see God as a sort of  employer who posts people’s callings on Monster.com like a job that is open to anyone out there.

Certainly,  if it was something God wanted you to do, he would have made you more capable to do it,  right? You wouldn’t have this fear if God really wanted you to do it, would you?

That’s where I get tripped up.  I used to wonder why God would give me this fear if it was just an obstacle keeping me from doing what He wanted me to do.  Things is, God didn’t give me the fear, but He will use it for His glory.

That much I know.

Leave it in God’s hands.  It’s so much easier to say than it is to live sometimes.  Believe me, I know.

Where does fear come from?  Were we not hugged enough as children?  Was there some kind of childhood trauma we went through?  Did our parents not instill confidence in us? Where did it come from??

And more importantly….when is it going back?? How long is it going to take!!

I get so mad at myself sometimes.  A lot of times.  Mad for not being bold, mad for letting the enemy keep me quiet, and mad for letting FEAR control me.

Stupid, piddly fear.

And fear of what, exactly?  I don’t even know!

One thing I know for sure: God did not put desires in my heart so I can daydream about them.

Have you ever noticed that when God gives you a desire in your heart, you can actually see it?  Visualize it on a level you can’t visualize other things?  It’s like, there’s a me in my head, one that I see doing what I know I’m supposed to….and then there’s the me everyone else sees.   And the two are nothing like each other!

Well, I don’t have the answers.  It’s something I’m still trying to work through.  I just keep praying and putting my trust in God.  He knows what He’s doing.  I read it somewhere today, “God’s never late, and rarely early”.

I’m willing.  It’s all in His timing.


Psalm 56:3
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.




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God has really been rocking my world lately on quite a few things. He has revealed many, many things, shed light on others, and helped me understand them in ways I didn’t before. He’s made that lightbulb in my head go off so many times over the last few months, I have started to wonder….why didn’t I see that before? Why didn’t I understand it way back when?

Lately, my heart has really been consumed with loving the people God has entrusted to me. It wasn’t a conscious thought or decision, it was something my heart really started to feel….broken. God started to show me, with even more clarity than before, how much some people are stuggling, are lost, need help, and need HIM. I remember looking at my husband one day not too long ago and saying “People are really messed up“.

And I was serious!

Where had I been? Did I not know that before??

I’m sure I did, but when I allowed myself to feel it, when I repented and asked God to remove those things from my heart that HE didn’t place there, when He started to use ME to minister to some of these hurting, broken people, it changed everything! I am not me anymore. I don’t belong to me, I belong to Him. Maybe it sounds cliche’, but for the first time in my life, I knew what that meant. They were so much more than words. It is a way of life!

Let’s face it, people are not convenient. People’s problems are not convenient. We are all people and we all know that to be true, but think about this: do you put on your “ministry” hat only when it’s convenient for you? Please do not misunderstand me…ministry should never be at the expense of your family.  However, ministry is not an 8-5 job, and it’s certainly not only when nothing is on tv! Your true character, your true heart shows through when you are approached to minister through inconvenience. We need to remember that we will be held accountable for the people He entrusts to us! All of us! Not just leaders with titles, all of us! We are all leaders!

Hebrews 13:17
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

James 3:1
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness

Let’s not forget that we’re in the business of people. Serving God is not easy and it should not be easy. Serving God should cost us something. Not just financial somethings, but our time, our energy, and our hearts.

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“No mistake was made in heaven when God gave you the gift of leadership or teaching. Every gift you have – your instincts to lead and your passion to make a difference – came from the hand of a loving Father who crafted you”

Gifted to Lead: The Art of Leading As a Woman in the Church
- Nancy Beach

Isaiah 64:8   But now, O LORD, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.

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We really are some messed up people, aren’t we?

I’m not sure what exactly I thought we were going to get with a motto such as “No Perfect People Allowed”.  I knew what it meant, of course, but quite honestly, I didn’t sit down, analyze it, and ponder the types of imperfections we were going to get. I would just take people as they came, one situation at a time, I told myself. I’m not by myself, and I can handle anything.

Ha!

Some of us are more stubborn, hard-headed & prideful than others, I realize. God certainly has a way of showing us that we can’t do anything on our own!

I may have been wrong about being able to handle anything, but I wasn’t wrong about the fact that I am not alone. It is only through HIM that we can do anything. That includes ministering to others.

Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Sometimes I wonder why God has put me where I am, why he uses me to minister to other people….what right do I have to get involved in people’s lives, problems, and issues? I’m no better than anyone else. I’m not perfect! I haven’t gone through half of the things I minister people through! Not that I want to go through those things, but what right do I have to say anything about it??

Then He speaks to me and sets me straight….”What right do you have to NOT do what I have called you to do and be in the place that I have put you?”

Wow.

God is not in the business of lies!  His word tells us that He will never leave us or foresake us. It also tells us that He gives us gifts to be used to serve each other and glorify Him.

1 Peter 4:10
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.

1 Peter 4:11
….in order that in everything, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen

HE gives me the guidance I need, the wisdom, knowledge, and the words to speak when I don’t know the way. This is how He shows us who He is! We know what we are capable of on our own, but when we do something we know isn’t something we ever could before, that’s God showing us that it is HIM!

It’s okay that I question Him. He expects me to question Him. I may not get the answers that I’m looking for, but He gives me the answers He wants me to have, speaks to my heart, reminds me why He made me the way that I am, tells me to trust Him, and sends me on my way in obedience.

Ephesians 1:17-18
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you

If we really and truly believed His word…why would we worry?? Way too often we listen to the voice of the enemy telling us that we are not worthy of God’s love. That we are not good enough to do anything for God. That we have no place ministering to people because we have not experienced what they are going through…that we are not perfect…and the millions of other things he puts in our heads to doubt ourselves instead of listening to the WORD of God that tells us:

2 Corinthians 10:3-5
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ

If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time or had conversation with me, you’ll notice a consistancy of unworthiness in my posts and dialogue.  It’s something I think about every day.  I know that I do not deserve anything that God has given me or anything that He does with me!  I truly believe that if we ever lose that feeling, if we ever get to the point where we take God’s grace for granted and the pride of our flesh starts to take credit for the things God does through us, we need to immediately STOP and allow Him a season to break us and humble us.

James 4:5-6
Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

He is a jealous God, but He is also a forgiving God that gives grace freely and continuously. I am thankful for that grace. I need that grace.

So do you.

This Sunday, we will celebrate together the resurrection of our Savior! Share the gospel with your family and friends by inviting them to our Easter services at 9:30 and 11:00. On this special day, we at Journey Church have lots of surprises in store that you definitely do not want to miss! Most importantly, this is an opportunity to share Jesus with more people than ever as this is one out of the two times of the year more people are open to hearing the gospel.

Don’t let this opportunity pass you by.  You get them there, let God do the rest.

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not-ready

If God waits until we are ready, will anything ever get done??

I read  this post and it really spoke to me because I’ve been wrestling a lot with this lately.

I’m humbled everyday about what God uses me for.  I find myself asking quite often, “Me? You sure about this?“  What I am coming to learn, though, is that He uses me in spite of myself, and He uses me in spite of the fact that I might not have the experience that I feel I probably should have with certain situations.  He puts me in those situatiuons to stretch me and help me grow.

Me tellling Him, “I’m not ready” does not hold Him back from putting me in the situation anyway!  God does not care about our comfort!  If He waited until I decided that I was ready, how much time would be wasted?  How many people would slip right by?  How many lives would not be changed?  It’s scary and it’s uncomfortable, but it’s a step towards where God wants us to be, where others need us to be!

We don’t have to be ready, we just have to be willing to be used by Him.  God puts desires in your heart for a reason.  Trust Him.

You don’t have to ready, you just have to be willing!

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you
Ephesians 1:17-18

This song really spoke to me this morning when I heard it.  Reminded me that I am not worthy of what He has done and continues to do for me….

“You Know My Name”
Detour 180

Help me remember the reason I’m alive
And that I was on your mind the day you died
Help me imagine, this is not my home
And some day I’ll be resting by your side

Help me remember the day you won my heart
And you paid my way to freedom with your love
Help me imagine the beauty of this gift
A grace that I am so unworthy of
But you’ll never let me fall away from you

Chorus:
You know my name
You know my story
Still you’ve taken on the world
Just for me
I am amazed that you hear me speaking
You listen close to every word I say
Who am I to be loved this way?
You know my name

If I rise, if I fall
My only hope is this
That you’d be with me everyday
Who am I to be loved this way?

 

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