Distracted...

If you look at the last date I posted, you'll notice that it's been two months since I last wrote. Other than busy-ness, there's not really a whole lot of reason for that.

Except that I've been distracted.

A few days ago, I came here and wondered where the time had gone. After all, so much has happened between now and then! And then I realized what happened... A few weeks after I wrote, I re-joined the world of facebook, thus sending me into a new sphere of activity. It was fun for awhile, and actually still is! But I've decided that there are better things in life. For example...

- Time with friends is so much more valuable when you find out information from them first-hand.
- There really are other things on the internet besides facebook. Places where I can actually learn something.
- I get a lot more done. Even though I don't have internet at home, I get status updates on my phone and can connect with the cyber world that way.
- Instead of checking my phone first thing in the morning, I can take time with my Creator.
- Happy-birthday wishes? In my opinion, they're much more special when your friends actually remember your day and shoot you an e-mail, instead of being informed by an automatically generated calendar.
- It's so freeing to be away from it....... those of you who have done the same thing as me know what I mean. :-)

I wrote those off the top of my head, but if I stopped to think more, I could come up with several reasons.

In short, it was a distraction.

I'm glad to be undistracted by it now! I plan to use the time to spend with my heavenly Prince, and grow closer to Him and His ideal for me. And... while I'm off facebook, I think you'll probably hear more from me, here. ;-)

Seventeen

I was immature when I was 17. Believe me. Just this evening, I was sorting through a few old things in my personal files here at work, and I came across a chat I had with a guy I liked back then. Oh my! It makes me cringe just reading it. Surely I must have been crazy! So flippant, flirtatious, mindless...

I am so amazed at the way God works with me. He has brought me so far, and yet there is so much still wrong with me. I'm glad there is so much RIGHT with Him!

It reminds me of a quote I read this morning that was a big encouragement to me:

"If you delight to dwell upon the plan of salvation, upon the glorious manifestations of the divine character, if your heart, in contemplation of the love of God, glows with thankfulness and joy, you may be sure that you have been illuminated by the beams of the Holy Spirit, and heavenly agencies are bringing your character up to maturity of Christian life" (Signs of the Times, March 27, 1893).

I think this speaks for itself. I am so thankful that God gives such promises as these!

I plan to keep growing, through His infinite grace. How about you?

A Shift of Perspective

When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.

Today was a busy one - and still is! I have yet to go home and finish as many responsibilities as I can before bedtime. Is it just me, or does everything big happen all at once? Everything I have to plan for, all the trips I have to make, all the neighborhood drama . . . it all seems to plop into my lap at one time. But then again, maybe I'm looking at it from the wrong perspective. Shift that, and I can see just how powerful God is, in helping me through it all, and giving me strength to meet the demands of life.

Just before lunch, I took some time out at "my" cabin, my favorite spot in the whole of YD camp. Its tiny porch overlooks the lake, and since it's not inhabited by campers this time of year, it's a perfect place to spend a few minutes with God before I go back to eat. As I stood there and told God all about what was happening and causing me stress, a quote came to mind, one that encourages me every time I think of it:

"Worry is blind, and cannot discern the future. Jesus sees the end from the beginning. In every difficulty, He has a way prepared to bring relief. Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service and honor of God supreme will find perplexities vanish and a plain path before their feet" (The Desire of Ages, page 330).

Amazing isn't it? That one simple principle opens up this path of life like nothing else. As we truly serve and honor God in everything, He will take care of the rest. Our God has knowledge that goes above and beyond our highest expectations. He is so powerful. He is so big. And yet He takes pleasure in helping me in my majorly-tiny-compared-to-His trials. He is truly my hope and stay!

Blessings

My new favorite song. Apparently it's everyone else's, too... but oh well. The words are worthy of repeat, and good to think about.


Blessings by Laura Story


We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
But long that we'd have the faith to believe

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home,

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

Morning Manna

Just thought I'd tell you about one of my little personal ministries, inside of my work at YD. It's an e-mail sharing group where young people (and some older ones too!) give tidbits of what they've learned in their devotional time. It's really encouraging to see what everyone has shared! If you'd like more information, e-mail me at morningmanna@youngdisciple.com. I'll be happy to tell you more! :-)

New Beginnings

Have you felt the call? Recently, I have. Christ has gently pressed on my heart the burden of working totally, completely, and unreservedly for Him. It is a call I can't avoid. It's a long process, but He is softening my heart to His influence. I want to serve Him with my life! I pray that you will make this same decision.

Growing Up into Christ

Introduction

The six steps that lead up to this one are the complete process of being born again:

1) Realizing God’s love for me,

2) Thinking about my need for Him—realizing my own unworthiness and dependability on Him,

3) Repenting—being sorry for my sins and willing to turn away from them,

4) Confessing specific sins,

5) Consecrating myself 100% to God,

6) Having faith—living by every word of God.

The seventh step is a test. Am I really born again? Are my thoughts, feelings, motives, and actions in accordance with God’s?

The next step

The eighth step keeps this process alive in my heart. If plants don’t grow, they die. And it’s the same with us as Christians! After we experience being born again, we must continue to grow, or our spiritual life will fade.

~ 2 Peter 3:18 – “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”

Life

What do we need in order to grow? Plants can’t do the work of growing by their own effort—and no more can we, except by gaining life from God. We are dependent on Him, to grow.

Plants and flowers don’t grow by their own effort, but by receiving those things that are vital to life. And even young children can’t add to their height by trying! Just like those examples, we cannot grow by anything we do on our own.

~ John 15:4, 5 – “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

~ Luke 12:27 – “Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

~ John 6:33 – “For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.”

~ Matthew 6:27 – Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

The little plants “behold” the sun, which is very necessary for them to grow. Just like that, we need to behold the Sun of Righteousness—Jesus.

~ 2 Corinthians 3:18 – “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Jesus teaches this same principle when He says, “Abide in Me, and I in you.”

~ John 15:4

We can not grow on our own, no matter how hard we try. It is only by abiding in Christ that we will grow.

Abiding in Christ

What does it mean to “abide in Christ”? Simply put, to abide means “to remain, to continue.” When we abide with Christ, we stay with Him. We are completely His.

So now we know what abiding in Christ is, but how do we do this?

~ “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.” Colossians 2:6

This verse tells us that we are to receive Christ as we did at the beginning. That first time you let Christ take complete control of your heart—don’t forget it. Re-give yourself to God every day. Let Him have control over your plans for each day. Continue to keep this connection, and you will grow.

Live by whatever Christ says in His Word.

~ “Now the just shall live by faith.” Hebrews 10:38

Rest

What will life be like when you are fully abiding in Christ and relying on Him?

~ Matthew 11:28, 29 – “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

God promises that we will have rest—and peace!—when we rely on Him. The reason? Your hope is not in yourself—you know you can’t do it on your own—but you know that Christ can accomplish what you need in your life. You are under His loving control. Even the words “abide in Christ” convey rest and peacefulness. A couple more verses:

~ Psalm 37:7 – “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him.”

~ Isaiah 30:15 – “For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.”

Think often about what Christ did for you. Think about the way He lived His life—in holiness, selflessness, purity. It is by copying His way of life and depending on Him entirely that you will be transformed into His image.

Watch!

We should not allow our self to become the center of our lives. Satan works hard to try and keep our eyes off of Christ. He uses many things to try and distract us: the world’s pleasures, the perplexities and burdens of life, the faults of others, and even your own faults and imperfections. But we must commit our souls to God, and trust that He will keep us safe as we are growing in Him.

~ Galatians 2:20 – “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

With Jesus

The early disciples had this experience of growing up into Christ—while He was with them here on Earth! In beholding Christ, they grew so close to Him that people saw Him in them.

~ Acts 4:13 – “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”

Here’s the thing—they were humans, just like us! They had the same problems we do, the same character defects. We have no excuse: Just like these men did, we can grow close to Christ. He works in our hearts, and by loving Him and abiding in Him, we will become changed, and grow up into Him.

~ Ephesians 4:15 – “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.”

Conclusion

All that Christ was to His disciples, He wants to be to us today. A very encouraging thought is that He Himself prayed for US! When praying for His disciples, He mentioned us who are living today.

~ John 17:20 – “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.”

Christ gives us hope that we can grow more and more like Him every day! Let’s take advantage of the many opportunities He gives us, and the ways He works with us.

~ Philippians 2:13 – “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

By loving Christ and abiding in Him, we will grow in Him.