What a great variety to choose from!
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Many of us “HAVE TO” start our day with coffee (or tea). Sometimes with our bible in front of us. Sometimes in a to-go cup. But either way, it’s become kind of a must.
But there are people out there, I am sure, who’s grocery budget could not cover the luxury of coffee this week…
So I’m going to start buying coffee and tea every week and put them in the local food bank. May it in some small way, set the world right, get someone’s day off on the right foot, be the pause and the “thank You, God” first thing for them.
I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was Me - you did it to Me. (Matthew 25:40 MSG)
Still, I pray the human prayer: Lord, someone I love is sick and this is what I want You to do.
Does this mean I am weak in faith? Absolutely not. Does it mean I am arrogant in thinking I know what God should do? Certainly not.
What it means is that I am living in obedience. Because what God longs for most of all is that we come to Him with everything. The good, the bad, the sad, and the messy. Every kind of emotion. He says, “Just come.”
Do not ever fear being real with God. He does not count it against you. He treasures every moment you run to Him. With urgency. With tears. In weakness. In hopelessness.
“Just come.”
Be still.
There you will find an inner calming - there in His presence. A beyond human understanding response to the human prayer.
Acts 4:13 is one of my favorite verses. Because I am ordinary. I am uneducated. And yet God finds ways to work through me. He makes me brave in sharing His goodness and faithfulness and love that is so powerful in changing lives.
Now when the men of the Sanhedrin (Jewish High Court) saw the confidence and boldness of Peter and John, and grasped the fact that they were uneducated and untrained [ordinary] men, they were astounded, and began to recognize that they had been with Jesus. (AMP)
The Jewish leaders understood that Peter and John had no special training or education. But they also saw that they were not afraid to speak. So the leaders were amazed. They also realized that Peter and John had been with Jesus. (ERV)
When the Council saw the boldness of Peter and John and could see that they were obviously uneducated non-professionals, they were amazed and realized what being with Jesus had done for them! (TLB)
Now the leaders were surprised and confused. They looked at Peter and John and realized they were typical peasants—uneducated, utterly ordinary fellows—with extraordinary confidence. The leaders recognized them as companions of Jesus. (VOICE)
The council members were astonished as they witnessed the bold courage of Peter and John, especially when they discovered that they were just ordinary men who had never had religious training. Then they began to understand the effect Jesus had on them simply by spending time with Him. (TPT)
Don’t you ever doubt that you can be used by God. And for extraordinary things! God knows how to get things done. Yes, He does use the weak, the untrained and scared. He knows how to work through you and me for His glory. You can move forward in boldness and confidence when the Lord calls. For it’s not just you and you alone, but Christ Who lives and moves and has His being - in and through you.
So, have you been with Jesus? It matters not who you think you are or what you think you are capable of - all that really matters is that you spend some time with Jesus and He will take care of the rest.
and renew, refresh, reclaim, remold a good, right, positive, whole, centered on You spirit within me
Cast me not away from Your presence - I would surely mourn, suffocate, be dismal, crushed… die
and take not Your sustaining, guiding, companion, Helper, Holy Spirit from me - I would surely be lost, drift, wander
Restore, make more apparent, envelope me with the riotous, joy, delight, pleasure of Your salvation, saving grace
and grant me a willing, desiring, longing, focused, thriving, to sustain, carry, keep me on track… spirit.
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| © 2012 Julie Crane All rights reserved |
If I truly want a successful outcome, I have to feel incapable of doing the task at hand. I have to be inadequate for the job… in order for it to be God-fed and God-driven. If I truly want God’s presence and His love to flow through me, the efforts made need to be empowered by God and not myself alone.
Ugh. But I want to do something for Him. From me … to offer my best to Him.
Not realizing that surrender is the gift He desires. Read the following scripture passages and see what I mean:
Mary (deciding in her heart): Here I am, the Lord’s humble servant. As you have said, let it be done to me. (Luke 1:38 VOICE)
For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Matthew 8:9 NIV)
He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. (Luke 9:3 NIV)
… for when I am weak [in human strength], then I am strong [truly able, truly powerful, truly drawing from God’s strength]. (2 Corinthians 12:10 AMP)
Surrendering the beginning, middle and end: ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty—you will succeed because of my Spirit, though you are few and weak.’ (Zechariah 4:6 TLB)
To Him Who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us… (Ephesians 3:30 NIV)
You want the very best outcome as a gift to God? Be inadequate. Incapable. Lacking. Truly, this is the time to let go and let God. Not sitting back and doing nothing. Go when He says, “Go.” But seek the Lord’s guidance in every step. Following His next move and then the next. Trusting in His daily Bread (provision) - daily. And witnessing the equipping and supplying of His at every stage. And then experiencing the glorious success! Yep. Your gift to God. Your best gift to God.
