More than I realized...

It must be that some of you are sharing my blog address with people that you know. I have seen more people visiting, and they are searching for specific posts. I pray that they can see the growth that I have experienced since I began this whole phenomenon called "blogging". It isn't about a gripe session...and some of you have been gracious enough to allow me that. I pray that in my own vulnerability you have seen some of your own issues and been encouraged to embrace the changes that God expects out of us.

I have been walking in places that where I know that the Holy Spirit gently leads me so that I can get rid of the "yuck" that still resides in my flesh. I have to tell you in being quiet before God... I can see that he burns out the "dross." A refining fire. And while my health issues seems to be at the forefront of some of this, I believe that this is so much more. It is about taking my place in my husband's ministry. It is about being bold enough to share with people what I have learned in my time here... and I am embracing that more everyday.

I don't want to get stuck in a rut of "us 4 and no more." I need to be open to embrace the people that God is sending our way. I am learning that doing the same thing that I used to do... isn't enough. We need to push beyond our comfort zone. To be more than we thought we could be. To use the authority that is Christ has given and reach places that we didn't know we could. This isn't about me being "so good"; it is about realizing that all of us who call ourselves Christians are on the SAME journey. If we aren't lifting one another up then we aren't accomplishing Christ's commandments. And what does that mean to the Christian?

There are some folks who have worn the "tag" Christian for years. And yet the fruits of the spirit are not evident in their lives. They will never reach the fullness of God's will for them. They want to march around the same issues that have plagued them for years...and refuse to embrace correction or change. I refuse to be a "right" fighter. Do you know what I mean? A right fighter is someone who takes the moral high ground and insists that they are right...even when they aren't. They can stand and say God blesses me and so I must be in God's will. And truth be told, God blesses us because we serve a GOOD God. One who loves us... A God who wants us to be better than we were yesterday. And because WE love him, we need to become the mirror image of Christ. To be anything less... is to never know God's full potential for your life, for your marriage, for your future.

We need to take off the paradigms that we look at the world through and ask God to replace our vision of things. We need to see things the way that Jesus would. What would we think of a Christ who snickered at the clothes someone wore... or the weight that they carry... or the flaws they openly display? I don't know about you...but that is taking away everything that I love about being a Christ follower.

So for anyone that I have done this to or with...Shame on me. I am sorry. Deeply sorry for any of Christ's beloved that I didn't defend like I would my own natural brothers. If I didn't give one of the hurting their time to be heard, I pray that God will give me the opportunity to make it up to them.

Lord, help me to be the WOMAN that you know I can be. Help me to not get caught up in the things that the enemy would use to destroy my witness. That everyone who reads my blog or happens upon it, that they would apply the things that are written here to their own hearts and allow the change that you want in each of us.

Good Night all... talk to ya next time!
^j^