Here I am Again

Here I am again, facing the unknown, another health issue that is such a nag.  As I cry out to the Father I pray that:

I will yield to His way.

I will remember that His ways are perfect and so is His timing.

I will not take my eyes off of Jesus but stand firm in the truth of His great love for me. 

I will listen, hear and obey. 

I will not allow the goodness of God to go unnoticed.

"The Lord of hosts has spoken, As I have planned so shall it be, as I have purposed so shall it stand." Isaiah 14:24 ESV

I have been blessed with a husband who loves the Lord, six children, who have each made a profession of faith and eleven grandchildren.  These are the facts, but when I look at their lives through my vision I get discouraged.  I don’t think that Isaiah did that.  Isaiah loved God, listened for His voice and said “yes” without being entangled with the results.  Isaiah spoke to God but left the results with God even when the people he tried to help would not listen to him.  He simply did what God said and kept doing it as long as God said to.  Isaiah’s obedience astounds me.  I, on the other hand, often get all entangled with what I see, with what I understand.  I see it my way and want God to make things fit into my plan and lose my way in self.

I have just finished reading Beth Moore’s book, “Audacious.”  It was so good I am going to read it again.  She wrote many things that challenged me about God’s love for us and our love for Him.  One of the questions she asks is, “What is your dream/your vision for the future?”  At my age I don’t think very much about the future, but what she wrote made me think: What do I want my future to be?  What dreams can come true? 

With God each day is a new beginning.  I do not have to stay the way I have been.  I can dream big dreams and change my ways and put them in line with God’s ways.   I can obey Him. 

Another question Beth asks is, “What do you really, really, really want?”  Can I, or can you, answer that with “You, Jesus, all of You?” knowing that this life will be a struggle, that counting your blessings will be hard some times and that change is an act of love and obedience, not a feeling.

Here’s an excerpt from Beth’s book:

Faith is not the clinging to a shrine

But an endless pilgrimage of the heart.

Audacious longing,

Burning songs,

Daring thoughts,

An impulse overwhelming the heart,

Usurping the mind----

These are all a drive towards serving Him

Who rings our hearts like a bell.

Abraham Joshua Heschel & Samuel H. Dresner in "I Asked for Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology".

Sharon Herzog

Treasurer – CBS Rutherfordton Day Class

Originally presented to the Leadership Team

Next Steps?

"He who has called us will also work through us."        

1 Thessalonians 5:24, paraphrased 

 

As a new year begins for the Rutherfordton CBS Day Class, the leadership team is:

* praying that the ladies and children who are coming will grow and experience life change through the study of Luke.

* asking God to help us prepare ourselves for growth.

* looking for God to reveal our Next Step of faith.

 

The Christian life is a walk of faith (Rom1:17…from faith to faith) that leads us to experience increasing oneness with Jesus (2 Cor 3:18…from glory to glory) and that’s why knowing our Next Step is so crucial. 

 

This Sabbath, my family visited a church where an old friend of my husband’s was the guest speaker. I just love the Holy Spirit’s faithfulness to speak to me no matter where I am! Isaiah 43:19 was one of the verses he used for his sermon; “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

 

The Lord is always about doing a new thing in us (our Next Step). The question is, are we perceiving it? Because we can be assured that God is more than willing to show us what it is. That’s why He says; “Do you not perceive it?” If we believe that He IS after doing something new in us, then we will perceive it and we will gladly join Him in it.

 

Henry Blackaby says that when we pray for something, we also need to open our spiritual eyes and perceive (pay attention to) His answer. It may come through Scripture, the Church, the Holy Spirit, or the circumstances we’re in. Some possible Next Steps are fasting, journaling, and a more disciplined prayer life.

 

Praying God's Word
by Beth Moore

One Next Step could be to demolish a stronghold that you’ve identified. A good help for doing this is Praying God’s Word by Beth Moore. I remember struggling with anxiety attacks a few years ago. With the help of God’s Word and the authority of Jesus Christ, I demolished that stronghold that was keeping me from experiencing complete freedom. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free! (Gal 5:1) There are many more Next Steps to raise your level of faith and improve your relationship with Christ. Until we enter Heaven, we WILL have many Next Steps.

 

Just ask God and He will be faithful to let you know. Just a clue: your next step will always begin with repentance.

 

The best is yet to come!

 

Evelyne Calton, Prayer Chairman

Rutherfordton CBS Day Class