|
ClutzyButtercup
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Claudia
Birthday: 2/10/1957
Interests: Cedarville University, music, books, counted cross stitch, and hosting DAE during their spring break (or any other time)
Occupation: Supervisory
Industry: Other
Message: message me
Member Since:
3/12/2005
|
|
|
|
God's Word: Psalm 39:4-7
“Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath. Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: he bustles about, but only in vain, he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.”
Lamentations 3:22-26
“God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, His merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great Your faithfulness! I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left. God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It’s a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God.”
|
| |
| |
|
Relationship: Our time here on earth is fleeting, none of us knows how many more minutes, hours or days we have left. These verses teach us that we are not to focus on the brevity of life but on God’s hope as we live.
|
| |
|
|
|
Outreach: We have reached the last week of 2010 and many of us are probably looking back over the year and lamenting what we did not get accomplished and looking to 2011 and what we need to get done or improve on. Reflection and goal making are not bad things for us to do but when we look at these scriptures we see a “better” way. We are to actively hope in God.
Isn’t it interesting that having hope in God is not a passive activity? Too often we hope for something to change and then we just sit and impatiently wait, complaining that nothing is happening. God’s mercies are new every morning. Each day our hope springs anew because God renews it. He desires for us to passionately and diligently seek Him, not solutions or goals. He wants our focus to be on Him! When we obediently follow these instructions, we receive the ability to wait and hope “quietly”, with a God-given peace in our souls. In that quiet, God is able to speak to us and guide us. He is able to bring hope to fruition. Are you willing to seek Him? Are you willing to passionately and diligently pursue Him? This will require changing not only the way you look at things but how you do things but the end results are well worth it!
|
| |
|
|
|
Worship: Oh God, I spend way too much time trying to “do life” on my own. I pray to You about things and then I go about trying to “fix them” without waiting for You, without truly seeking You. Help me to change my mindset and my lifestyle so that I can become a passionate follower of You. May 2011 be the beginning of a new chapter in my journey with You, a chapter filled with hope and victory that only You can give! Praise God! Amen!
|
| | |
| I haven't posted much this year but God is working in me and I believe that I will begin blogging again in 2011. This decision has come with a decision to also move to a different blog site. Here is the info if you would like to visit it from time to time:
http://claudiaporpiglia.wordpress.com/
I know that most of you have very busy lives so I understand if you decide not to subscribe.
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a truly blessed New Year! | | |
| Chapter 2 was just as full of things to think about and pray about as chapter 1...probably more! The one that was most encouraging for me (and baffling as well) was David Platt's discussion of what constitutes a person accepting Jesus as their Savior. For many years I have personally felt that Savior and Lord need to be addressed at the same time. It isn't that you are capable of letting Jesus be Lord 100% but you need to recognize that it is part of Jesus' message in the gospels. This goes against many evangelicals mindset because it means that praying a simple prayer may not be enough but look at one of the examples Jesus gave.
In Matthew 19 (and Mark 10 as well as Luke 18) we find the story of a rich young man who came to Jesus to ask how he could attain eternal life. This man was a good man, a man who obeyed the commandments and yet he sensed this wasn't enough. Jesus tells him to sell everything he has, give the proceeds away to the poor and follow Him. For years I have heard this message preached with the emphasis on the money and yet the money isn't the real issue, the inability of the man to truly yield to Jesus was...to make Him Lord of His life.
When my son was going on 4 yrs old, he came to me and asked about accepting Jesus as Savior. I had picked up a booklet geared to children that did a great job of presenting the Bible verses and explaining what it all meant. When you reached the last page, it asked if the child was ready to make Jesus Savior AND Lord (boss) of their life. For 6 months my son would ask about this, we would go through the booklet, we would get to the last page and his response would be, "I'm not ready to let Jesus be the boss of my life". One afternoon he asked, we went through it and he told me he was ready...In true mother fashion, I asked him several times if we was really ready to let Jesus be the boss of his life and finally he said (in an exasperated voice), "Mom, I want Jesus and my Savior and Lord, really!"
Much of the confusion over this has come because we don't really grasp that this isn't a matter of "working" for our salvation. Salvation is a gift from God, it is God's grace that saves us from His judgment (yes, God is a judge...but that is a subject for another day). This has to do with commitment, it is about accepting Jesus as more than a "life preserver" to keep us from eternal damnation. I don't have all the answers but Scripture tells me I never will (this side of heaven) because "His thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways". There is comfort in that verse but it also creates a greater responsibility for each of us to truly seek a relationship with the Savior, one that will help us grow in Him and reach a deeper understanding of what He desires for us.
Radical is still "kicking my spiritual butt" yet I am determined to persevere. God is calling me to some changes, not huge at this point but a start. I hope and pray that God is growing you through this process as well. | | |
| I decided to read the book Radical by David Platt because God has been working in my heart cc. how He wants me to live and I thought maybe what David Platt had to say would be helpful. The fact that one of my favorite authors (Marla Taviano) was leading a read along with this book was an added bonus. I have read the first chapter a few times this week and have come to the conclusion that I am far from "radical" in how I live my Christian life. Oh, I am a little bit of an "out of the box" thinker in some very limited areas but too much of my view of Jesus and what He expects of me has been tainted by MY interpretation of what He wants. I value security and comfort much more than obedience...not exactly how I wanted to start this read along experience.
Maybe you can relate to some of the things that are causing me to question whether my life is in line with what God intends it to be. In Luke 14:33 we read these words spoken by Jesus, "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." Most of us have heard this verse many times but do we believe that Jesus really meant that we are supposed to give up everything? I have to admit that I may have said I believe that but if I had to do it could I? Could I give up my home, car, bank account (even if it doesn't have much in it), family, friends, good health...you get the idea. If I am truly honest, I would really struggle with this. There has been progress in not clinging to these things but there is no way I could just give them up.
Thirty nine years ago I committed my life to Jesus Christ and I can't imagine life without Him...yet I don't think I have done a very good job of showing that He is the most important person in my life. I have allowed my American mindset to taint how I view Jesus, the Bible and my part in His plan. The stark reality is...the Jesus I have allowed others to see in me is nothing like the Jesus they should be seeing. Yes, I have had the opportunity to be used by God to impact others for Him and He has put me in the place to walk a faith walk that may be a little more obvious than the average Christian's but all of that falls far short of what He desires for me.
So where does that leave me? Will I continue to read Radical and participate in the read along? Yes. Will I go beyond just reading words and allow God to change my heart and my life? Yes. Will it be easy? Definitely not!
FYI...here is the link to Marla Taviano's blog site and the read along. Hope you drop in to see what others think about this experience. http://www.marlataviano.com/
| | |
|
|
(Excuse the repeat post...trying to link this to another site)
One of my favorite things about Xanga is that people share concerns and needs and offer the rest of us the opportunity to pray with them. Sometimes the needs are to do with either themselves or their immediate family and other times it is a friend or friend of a friend. Each time I pray for one of these requests I find myself anxiously awaiting the report of how God has or is working in the situation. Often my focus is on the "'physical" aspect of the request but a verse I read this week made me think about it a little deeper.
Epehsians 6:18
"In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each others' spirits up so no one falls behind or drops out." (The Message)
The emphasis on the emotional and spiritual shouldn't be a surprise to me. We have had people praying for Tina and our family for many years. Although there have been times when God has actually moved in our physical circumstances, often it was just the encouragement of knowing that people were praying...that they really cared...that made all the difference.
As 2010 is beginning, God is calling me to a true attitude of prayer. This all started as I began to evaluate how I could find more time to meditate and pray. I began praying over the last couple of weeks and asked God to show me how I could adjust my schedule to open up more time for Him. What God started showing me was how much time I already have that I just don't use. From the time my feet hit the floor in the morning until I fall into bed at night, there are tons of small blocks of time where I could be meditating and praying. Here are just a few of the times God revealed to me:
in the shower
while putting on make-up
fixing breakfast, lunch and dinner
at stop lights (here in Florida that provides a ton of time!)
while shopping
while exercising
There are so many more I could list but your list may be very different than mine.
All that said, God is calling me to truly live I Thessalonians 5:17, "pray continually". As I read each of your blogs and God shows me prayer opportunities, I will be praying. I may not always comment and tell you I am doing it but be assured I will be praying. I will also be waiting to hear how God is at work in your lives, your families, your friends, your church, etc. Can't wait to see what God will do in the days, weeks, months and years to come!
|
| | |
|