Month: June 2016

Sin is largely a matter of mistaken priorities.  Any sin in us that is cherished, hidden, and not confessed will cut the nerve center of our faith.
Catherine Marshall

“The Spirit alone gives eternal life.  Human effort accomplishes nothing.  And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
John 6:63
The New Living Translation

Live near to God, and so all things will appear to you little in comparison with eternal realities.
Robert Murray McCheyne

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Ephesians 1:4
The King James Version

If my life is surrendered to God, all is well.  Let me not grab it back, as though it were in peril in His hand but would be safer in mine!
Elisabeth Elliot

We’re prone to want God to change our circumstances, but He wants to change our character.  We think that peace comes from the outside in, but it comes from the inside out.
Warren Wiersbe

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
Matthew 4:23
The New International Version

God uses our most stumbling, faltering faith-steps as the one door to His doing for us “more than we ask or think.”
Catherine Marshall

But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.
Psalm 44:7
The King James Version

Choices can change our lives profoundly.  The choice to mend a broken relationship, to say “yes” to a difficult assignment, to lay aside some important work to play with a child, to visit some forgotten person–these small choices may affect many lives eternally.
Gloria Gaither

*BEING WHO I AM*

*by Eric Elder The Ranch
*

I was having dinner with a friend when the conversation became awkward. We were talking about a subject we hadn’t talked discussed in a long time, and we didn’t know where each other stood. I could tell I was holding back from saying what I wanted to say, and my friend could tell the same. To ease the tension, my friend said, “Eric, how about this: why don’t you just be who you are, and I’ll be who I am. Then we’ll take it from there.” Whoosh! In an instant, all of the tension left my body.Rather than worrying about how my words might be perceived, I felt I had
the permission to just “be who I am”–in this case to speak freely–thereby
advancing our conversation by leaps and bounds.
A few days later I was flying out west to meet with some people I had never
met before. I was nervous about the meeting, and I was afraid I might feel
“very small” in the presence of people who were rightly considered by many
to be “very big.”
As I was praying about the meeting, asking God to use our meeting to bear
fruit for His kingdom in whatever way He wanted, I began worrying about
what I should or shouldn’t bring up during our meeting. In answer to my
question, I felt like God said: “Be yourself, Eric. Be who you are. And
I’ll be who I AM!”
Whoosh! In an instant, all of the tension left my body.
Rather than worrying about how my words might be perceived, I felt I had
the permission to just “be who I am”–in this case to relax and enjoy the
time of meeting new people–knowing that God would be who He IS: the great
“I AM.”
Over the next few days, as I met with person after person during the
meeting, I was able to truly be myself and enjoy the moments as they came.
I laid down any agenda I might have had and often just thought, “What would
I do if I were to just be who I am?” When I saw one of the “very big”
people walking towards me carrying a stack of chairs to the meeting room,
rather than thinking of what I should say or how I should say it, I
thought, “What would I do if I were to just be who I am?” I answered, “I’d
offer to help carry the chairs!” I offered, he accepted, so I began making
trips back and forth with him carrying chairs.
It was so simple! I knew I could trust that if God had something *more* for
me to say or do, He would prompt me to do or say it. But in the absence of
His prompting otherwise, it was easy to know what to do next: just be who I
was! And in so doing, not only was I blessed, but so were those around me,
even if it was in the most simple ways.
This isn’t to say that “being who I am” isn’t without risk. There’s always
some risk in letting down our walls–and some walls are good and right for
the protection or ourselves and of others. Even my friend warned me during
our dinner conversation that dropping walls doesn’t always end well. Life
is messy. People are messy. But what a blessing to be able to share what
was truly on my heart that night. And as my friend said later, “I know you,
Eric, and I had to trust that no matter where our conversation went,
something good would come of it.”
I’m still experimenting. I’m still exploring. But I’m enjoying the process,
asking not only what God wants me to do, or what Jesus would do–which are
both terrific questions–but also “What would Eric do?” What *would* I do,
given the way God has created me, gifted me, and wired me? Then doing it,
just being who I am, letting others be who they are, and letting God be who
He is: the great “I AM.”

Is your child learning of the love of God through your love, tenderness, and mercy?
James Dobson

“Behold, happy is the man whom God reproves; therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty.  For he woulds, but he binds up; he smites, but his hands heal.”
Job 5:17-18
The Revised Standard Version

Character is both developed and revealed by tests, and all of life is a test.
Rick Warren

Joy is a by-product not of happy circumstances, education or talent, but of a healthy relationship with God and a determination to love Him no matter what.
Barbara Johnson

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
John 14:2-4
The New King James Version