Mission

I've decided that we are each on a mission. Kind of like Missionaries from God - sent to earth - with His desire to have a relationship with us while we carry it out.
So, we go about our days - and forget we are on a mission.
At least I do. I start to think about what I think my life should be like.
My focus should be: "What would God want me to do today? With what He has given me - my physical, mental, emotional and spiritual state - how can I use them best to honor Him? Make Him glad He sent me on this mission?"
It has finally dawned on me that David completed his mission. Now, I want everyone's mission to be 80 or so years long. I think God loves that we love life. :)
But, I have no idea what their mission is on earth - only God knows.
In Psalm 139, it says that "every day ordained for me was written in your book before one of them came to be." He orchestrated the mission.

Now, we can do things in the hopes of living each day as well as we can - like taking care of our bodies by eating healthy and doing exercise - taking care of our minds by learning - taking care of our spirits by praying, studying the Bible, and relating to others. I do believe that God encourages us to take care of ourselves so we can serve Him better during our mission. And, we do have an enemy that tries to thwart God's purposes for our mission.
But, as I do my part in enjoying the gift of life, I also recognize that my mission is simply to serve an Amazing God that chose me to be His so He could walk with me through my mission - and make it more joy-filled - because He defeated the enemy already.
So, thank you Lord.
Thank you for my mission on earth - and for the mission of all those that I get to share life with - what a wonderful group of people to know and love.
We are wonderfully made -
Enjoy the way God made you and your mission :)

God Eternal

I am trying to wrap a part of my brain around a bit of A.W. Tozer. For me, he is one of those writers that, when I first begin to read, I think "Better slow down with this" and take what he knows very slowly - kind of like chewing on a really tender piece of "pink in the middle" filet mignon.
This is what I was trying to digest:
"The mind looks backward in time till the dim past vanishes then turns and looks into the future till thought and imagination collapse from exhaustion; and God is at both points, unaffected by either."
It is from a chapter trying to shed more light on the thought of the Eternity of God.
It comforted me.
To think that the God who loves me knows the past and the future and is "unaffected" means, to me, that His Love covers it. If His love covers it, what concerns do I really have? Really? Do I have any?
The chapter goes on to say "He sees the end and the beginning in one view." And, later on I quote "For NOW and THEN coincide in the circle of the wall of Paradise."
Now, that says it all!
Okay - so as my mind spins, trying to focus on what I can grasp of this - I know this much -
God knows each day of my life - and yours - and He promises He will never leave nor forsake us!
It seems to me to be a little bit like taking someone to a movie I have already seen - and, if they get concerned during a scene, I gently whisper in their ear "It is okay. I know how it turns out - don't be concerned."
Wow, can I sleep in peace. He has already seen the movie.
Have a blessed night's sleep.

Spirit and soul?

A new friend gave me a big book several summers ago. I was reminded of it this week and pulled it out. This is a book of blessings for our spirit.

"The spirit and soul are portions of our being that we cannot see. Spirit is the element in man which gives him the ability to think of God. It is man's vertical window, while soul is man's horizontal window, making him conscious of his environment."
"Being filled with the Spirit means being so entirely occupied and controlled with God's Spirit that there is no room for me."

Well, as I work through some of these blessings, I do believe they will bless my life so I wanted to share part of one with your spirit today.

"You are one of God's masterpieces. God delights in how He made you. You have wise and gracious words on your lips that come from the wellspring of a righteous heart. Be blessed to live in the beauty of being well-pleasing to your Father. God is investing in you, caring for you, nurturing you, and blessing you, so that you can be a treasure and a blessing to the world. Be blessed with becoming everything He has called you to be and being all He has designed you to become in a way that makes all of heaven rejoice."

I am rejoicing with heaven over you :)

Gen. 1:3

After a great discussion with my intelligent daughter-in-law yesterday, a friend mentioned today that she believes in the Bible and her husband believes in evolution.
I was able to quote "is it possible for both to exist instead of either or?"
When the Lord said in Gen. 1:3 "Let there be light" - BANG - I am sure there was a huge sound as the light broke through the darkness.
And evolution, well, aren't we continually evolving? Physically and mentally we change daily - evolving into new creations?
What an amazing God we serve. He is big enough to be all inclusive.
I also mentioned that a "day" of time in His schedule may be a million years, for all we know. We are bound by a 24 hour day, He has never been bound by time.
Oh - what fun!
Enjoy how Our Creator creates and, whether it was noisy or not - I believe we can give Him credit for creating any way - and in any amount of time - He wanted to :)
God bless you!

1 Timothy 6:6

Okay - I have had the Bible being read aloud on CD for years. This week, I decided to put in one of the CD's because I am in two groups studying Hebrews. I thought I would listen to it being read as I cleaned the house. It has worked well more than once this week and given me some familiarity with the first few chapters.
So, early this morning, I decided to play the CD from the start, which is 1 Timothy - Hebrews starts on the 15th chapter on the CD. I thought it would be nice to eventually get to Hebrews, but I would enjoy more of this particular part of the Bible.
As I walked around getting ready for church, a passage caught my attention as I heard it read aloud "Now godliness with contentment is great gain." It caught my attention, because I don't think I was content this morning.
So, I researched where it was in the Bible, according to the chapters being read aloud and found it in 1 Timothy 6:6. I sat with it a while, trying to let it soak in.
Can I really be content and thus have "great gain" in my life?
Hurrying off to church, I put contentment in the back of my mind.
The very first Scripture verse today's speaker put on the screen was 1 Timothy 6:6 - we were even asked to read it aloud before he taught us about surrender and contentment.
Is the Lord always that clear?
I simply know He wants me spending some time working on contentment.
Enjoy His work in your life today.
Love you! Me

Praise Blessing!

Experiencing a pretty normal morning at church and the worship continued. Soon, I was not focusing on the song - my mind was simply filled with praise.
My eyes were closed and I was receiving the beauty of the song to Our Creator when it happened. My ears picked up the sound of a man singing praise to His Lord. His voice may have hit every note perfectly, I don't know, because the melody or tone didn't matter - but his voice sounded angelic to me. It quickly took over my unconscious praise and tears began to slowly work their way down my cheeks.
It was easy to spend time receiving the beauty of his voice. I didn't want the song to end.
I quickly realized that the last time I enjoyed a man worshiping near me was 4 years ago.
David's voice singing praise to Our Lord was the sweetest sound to my ears and I cherish the memory.
May God bless each of us when we worship. We may never know who receives a blessing by our praise.
For Jesus' Glory, Mary

Savior ???

Whenever I believe something will help myself or someone I love, I get all excited. In fact, I don't even need to know someone to get excited when they get helped :)
In my humanness, I can be a little "pushy" with my beliefs - thinking I am helping.
So, when I do that, I ask you - where is the Savior? Did I believe it was me?
In my heart, I need to lay flat on my back and ask the Savior, Jesus Christ, to pick up the pieces and pain of my life - and the pieces and pain of the lives of the people I love - and then trust Him to be THE Savior.
So, today, I say, "I trust you, Lord" and expect Him to work in the lives of those I love. Now, waiting to hear they are doing better is also challenging.
See, when we trust Him to do it, we need to sit back and wait.
I don't wait well. I believe that is connected to my belief that "I need to do something".
Truth - we have a Savior - and He is enough. He does not need my help.
And, He can save in ways I cannot imagine - why does my little mind think I have answers?
Thank you, Lord, for reminding me that we have ONE SAVIOR - and it is not me :)
Have a blessed day - and may God give you all you need to say "I trust You, Lord" and enjoy His gift of salvation today - in any area you need a Savior.
For Jesus' Glory,
Mary