Good morning, noon, evening! I hope you've all been blessed in some way this week. I love this time of year. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Easter is my favorite but Thanksgiving runs a close second. I love everything about it -- it's not as commercial, it's not over done with decorations but the food is fabulous and realigning the perspective of thankfulness is a great exercise.
I'm a Facebooker. I'm hooked, I admit it and I probably need a 12 step program to get away from it. But lately, a lot of my friends have been posting their "thankfulness" in their statuses each day. I've seen everything from deeply introspective thank-you's to some that are just fun and funny and honestly, I've loved them all! I decided to get in on it and it's been a wonderful way to keep my attitude in check as the stress of the holiday season closes in.
This past week, I had the opportunity to share my testimony and music with a group of ladies in Pensacola and in Foley, Alabama. God blessed me beyond measure by allowing me to see His Harvest of three lives asking Jesus to be their Savior. Praise You Lord. I'm so thankful to have had this opportunity. Not only that, it was just beautiful down there and we got to visit with some dear friends, Lisa and Al, and spend the evening laughing and catching up with them. What a joy!
I've never considered myself much of a harvester. I've always been comfortable in sowing seeds in God's great fields. But I must admit, to see and know that someone has just given their life to Christ brings a joy that goes deep into my soul. It's something that I can't fully explain and I don't want my readers to think for a minute that I'm boasting about my part in it at all -- I think what I find so humbling about it is the fact that there were so many who came before me who sowed seeds of the Gospel, watered with truth, fertilized with love and encouragement and at just the right time, God saw the fruit in the heart of these ladies, and I had the opportunity to be there for the harvest!! I just had to be available and ready and He showed me His Handiwork!! That's pretty awesome isn't it!
You know, I really believe that's the key to living fruitful lives. Being available. If we'll just make ourselves available to God's plan - and be willing let Him guide us, use us and speak through us, then we are rewarded with peace, contentment, hope and joy apart from our circumstances. It's almost as if we get to see the big picture or at least a little glimpse of it. Does that make sense?
I think sometimes we try to hard to figure God's will out. I think maybe because we can talk and have opposable thumbs (however your spell it), we carry around a "god complex" and try to force God's hand when there is really no need to do so. Why? Well, I don't think it's always with selfish motives or irreverence. I think it's because we hunger so badly to know God that we toil and spin to try to figure Him out rather than just resting and trusting that He is God.
I know that has been true at least in my own life. It started when I was in high school. When the talk of what was God's will for my life (Christian-ese for what I was gonna be when I grew up) began. Oh that I had known at 17 years old that His will for me was not just a profession - His will for me (and you) was to live justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with my God....Malachi 6:8. Sure - I should have sought Him for career choice, choice for mate, church membership, etc. - but His will is so much larger than those things and much simpler at the same time. I did seek God for those decisions, but honestly, I did so with pleasing man in mind. If I'd only known that sitting at His feet, getting to know Him first and intimately was more important to Him - if I'd only known how that could have made so much of my life fall into place according to His Word (Matthew 6:33), I wonder if I could have saved myself so many tears, frustration and prodigal choices along the way...then again, maybe this path is the one God chose for me...overthinking even that would be wrong at this point in my life because His Word tells us that He leads us into the wilderness...Deuteronomy 8:2. We believe a lie if we think our lives as Christians should be immune from dry seasons or hard things...This Scripture attests to that fact...
So, as we approach this week of Thanksgiving, I'd like to challenge us all to be thankful beyond the material blessings of our lives. I'd like to challenge us to find ways that God has blessed us that go beyond the obvious. I'd like to challenge us to be thankful even for the hard things, the wildernesses, the trying times of our lives and at the same time, I'd like to offer an encouragement to live out Matthew 6:33 -- "Seek first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness..." Let that be top priority -- be willing to be used of Him and to know Him intimately and in doing so "all these things (provision, direction, fruitful lives) will be added to us." This is a promise...a covenant - between 2 - ourselves and our God. In the busy-ness of the holiday season, let's try to be more like Mary and less like Martha -- doing so allows us the opportunity to see God at work in the Harvest as well as gives us a chance to be available to be used as vessels for His Spirit to flow from and through as He sees fit. If we are so busy "Martha-ing" around, we'll miss it -- we won't see Him at work and we'll lose out on getting to see a harvest of some sort - be it a new believer or a brother or sister get back on track or a miracle of healing, etc.
I pray you'll have a safe and happy Thanksgiving and that you'll enjoy those God places in your path both now and throughout this wonderful holiday season!! I'm going to post some more recipes soon as well as some tips and tricks too -- I know it's been a while...
Blessings!! Amy
I'm a Facebooker. I'm hooked, I admit it and I probably need a 12 step program to get away from it. But lately, a lot of my friends have been posting their "thankfulness" in their statuses each day. I've seen everything from deeply introspective thank-you's to some that are just fun and funny and honestly, I've loved them all! I decided to get in on it and it's been a wonderful way to keep my attitude in check as the stress of the holiday season closes in.
This past week, I had the opportunity to share my testimony and music with a group of ladies in Pensacola and in Foley, Alabama. God blessed me beyond measure by allowing me to see His Harvest of three lives asking Jesus to be their Savior. Praise You Lord. I'm so thankful to have had this opportunity. Not only that, it was just beautiful down there and we got to visit with some dear friends, Lisa and Al, and spend the evening laughing and catching up with them. What a joy!
I've never considered myself much of a harvester. I've always been comfortable in sowing seeds in God's great fields. But I must admit, to see and know that someone has just given their life to Christ brings a joy that goes deep into my soul. It's something that I can't fully explain and I don't want my readers to think for a minute that I'm boasting about my part in it at all -- I think what I find so humbling about it is the fact that there were so many who came before me who sowed seeds of the Gospel, watered with truth, fertilized with love and encouragement and at just the right time, God saw the fruit in the heart of these ladies, and I had the opportunity to be there for the harvest!! I just had to be available and ready and He showed me His Handiwork!! That's pretty awesome isn't it!
You know, I really believe that's the key to living fruitful lives. Being available. If we'll just make ourselves available to God's plan - and be willing let Him guide us, use us and speak through us, then we are rewarded with peace, contentment, hope and joy apart from our circumstances. It's almost as if we get to see the big picture or at least a little glimpse of it. Does that make sense?
I think sometimes we try to hard to figure God's will out. I think maybe because we can talk and have opposable thumbs (however your spell it), we carry around a "god complex" and try to force God's hand when there is really no need to do so. Why? Well, I don't think it's always with selfish motives or irreverence. I think it's because we hunger so badly to know God that we toil and spin to try to figure Him out rather than just resting and trusting that He is God.
I know that has been true at least in my own life. It started when I was in high school. When the talk of what was God's will for my life (Christian-ese for what I was gonna be when I grew up) began. Oh that I had known at 17 years old that His will for me was not just a profession - His will for me (and you) was to live justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with my God....Malachi 6:8. Sure - I should have sought Him for career choice, choice for mate, church membership, etc. - but His will is so much larger than those things and much simpler at the same time. I did seek God for those decisions, but honestly, I did so with pleasing man in mind. If I'd only known that sitting at His feet, getting to know Him first and intimately was more important to Him - if I'd only known how that could have made so much of my life fall into place according to His Word (Matthew 6:33), I wonder if I could have saved myself so many tears, frustration and prodigal choices along the way...then again, maybe this path is the one God chose for me...overthinking even that would be wrong at this point in my life because His Word tells us that He leads us into the wilderness...Deuteronomy 8:2. We believe a lie if we think our lives as Christians should be immune from dry seasons or hard things...This Scripture attests to that fact...
So, as we approach this week of Thanksgiving, I'd like to challenge us all to be thankful beyond the material blessings of our lives. I'd like to challenge us to find ways that God has blessed us that go beyond the obvious. I'd like to challenge us to be thankful even for the hard things, the wildernesses, the trying times of our lives and at the same time, I'd like to offer an encouragement to live out Matthew 6:33 -- "Seek first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness..." Let that be top priority -- be willing to be used of Him and to know Him intimately and in doing so "all these things (provision, direction, fruitful lives) will be added to us." This is a promise...a covenant - between 2 - ourselves and our God. In the busy-ness of the holiday season, let's try to be more like Mary and less like Martha -- doing so allows us the opportunity to see God at work in the Harvest as well as gives us a chance to be available to be used as vessels for His Spirit to flow from and through as He sees fit. If we are so busy "Martha-ing" around, we'll miss it -- we won't see Him at work and we'll lose out on getting to see a harvest of some sort - be it a new believer or a brother or sister get back on track or a miracle of healing, etc.
I pray you'll have a safe and happy Thanksgiving and that you'll enjoy those God places in your path both now and throughout this wonderful holiday season!! I'm going to post some more recipes soon as well as some tips and tricks too -- I know it's been a while...
Blessings!! Amy
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