Week 2... Having a Mary Spirit
James 4:7 The Message " So let God work His will in you. Yell a loud NO to the devil and watch him scamper!! Say a quiet 'yes' to God and He will be there in no time!"
Colossians 3: 5-7 , 12-14 The Message "You're done with that old life, it's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you have stripped off and put into the fire. Now you are dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your 'new life' is custom-made by the Creator with His label on it.
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you.... compassion, kindness, humility,quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on.... wear Love. It's your Basic All-purpose garment..... NEVER BE WITHOUT IT."
"Only Jesus can rescue me from this body of death, but I must be willing to be rescued." Joanna Weaver..
Several years ago I was under a major attack of the enemy.... There were days when I wondered what he would do next... it was during this time that I was attacked and maligned by a perfect stranger.... Truly, I would not know this person even today if I fell over them... Yet, this did not stop it from happening.... And worst yet, this person chose to attack my youngest child, too.
Look Out!!! Tawanda is in the House!!!
It's one thing to attack me, and quite another to attack my child!!! I am like a lioness when it comes to my children!!! There have been very few times when I was so angry that I actually saw red, and all of these times were when my family was under attack. I was so hurt and angry with this person that I actually thought about seeking her out and confronting her!! But Praise God, He intervened. Seriously... the very morning that I had decided that I had had enough.... what does my scripture say....
"Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken." Psalm 55:22 and this..."The Lord your God is with you He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17
I felt My Father saying.... Sharon... slow down.... I got this..... get on your knees and pray for this child.... she needs your prayers and your forgiveness.
Was is that easy..... NO, NO A THOUSAND TIMES NO.... The Father worked on me awhile to help me get through this without causing more ill will.... Does this person know this??? Probably Not!!! But my prayer is that her life changed because of my prayers for her.
The verses that I quoted from Colossians, reminds me of what C.S. Lewis says in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader....
Eustace Grubb an obnoxious adventurous boy falls into treasure in an abandoned dragon's lair. After stuffing his pockets with jewels and gold, he falls asleep only to find when he awakens that he has become a dragon. He tries daily to be different, but as each day ends, he still finds himself trapped inside a dragon's body. Then the Great Lion Aslan comes and leads him to a clear pool. Eustace decides to bath... but Aslan tells him that he must undress first... Three times he scratches at the scales and sheds his dragon skin, but each time he finds an other layer underneath.
"You have to let me undress you," The Great Lion tells him. This is how Eustace describes it....
"The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. and when he began to pull the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. the only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off,... Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off, just as I thought I'd done myself the other times, only they hadn't hurt... and there it was lying in the grass; only ever so much thicker and darker and more knobbly looking than the others had been."
Growth is painful.... but Jesus is loving, tender and gracious... and Praise God, He is not willing to leave me as He found me!!!
13 comments:
Sorry, that was me commenting as you! I went into your profile so I could add the button for you, and forgot to sign out! Here's the REAL comment:
I cried when I read the passage that you quoted at the end of your post. How like Eustace I am! Thank you for sharing your heart so candidly, Mom... like I ever expected anything less! ;-)
AMEN! I love how you put that: Praise God, He is not willing to leave me as He found me!!!
How wonderful that the Lord is our answer to all of life's problems. And so good that you did seek Him in your time of need.
Blessings.
Sus, thanks for "fixing" me... for some reason my computer and I were not seeing eye to eye this morning, and I just didn't have time to keep working at it!!!
This is great writing girl. He loves us and always knows what will help us and make us better and happier. It's just us trying to figure everything out and only He knows what we really need. This is a wonderful study.
wonderful comments thanks for the scripture references from the Message. thanks for sharing so openly and I too love your last comment. He is nt willing to leave me like He found me. reminds me again of the prayer at the beginning of the book.
Zepphaniah 3;17 is one of my favorite scripture what a pleasusre to see it today
Yes, growth is very painful. I'm in a period of pain and growth and it's so easy to become weary especially after over a year of time.
Thank you for visiting my blog and gracing me with wonderful comments.
I can't remember which post it was but I quoted the scripture you mentioned about God's Word being like fire. Wow, does that show us the power, or what.
You have a beautiful family on your slide show.
Blessings,
Paula
Thanks for stopping by Plant Lady's Ponderings! I'm glad you came to visit and hope you will return often.
Please keep these sisters in your prayers.
Blessings~
Plant Lady
It was quite thrilling to come to your blog this afternoon and read your post. Yesterday I was in that section of scripture and the word Love stood out for me (as it was supposed to). I felt rebuked as I find some people so hard to love, even tho I show love to them, inside I'm not feeling that way. And when we are told that love is the most important, its hard to comprehend how we can love rightly without the Lord's help daily. I think of that button that we used to wear, "Please be patient with me, God isn't finished with me yet!"
Thank God for His patience with me on a daily basis!
Isn't God good?
Joan
Thanks so much for stopping by and I truly appreciate your comments.
I really love your blog! The rocker and "rocking the world for Jesus" is such a neat thought!
I also love to travel!
This post is so beautiful and speaks such truth! And I love the CS Lewis story. And yes, growth is painful. Have you heard the song,
He Washed My Eyes With Tears?
The first time I heard the song, I was very young and it didn't make much impression but there came the day that it really spoke to my heart!
He washed my eyes with tears that I might see,
The broken heart I had was good for me;
He tore it all apart and looked inside,
He found it full of fear and foolish pride.
He swept away the things that made me blind
And then I saw the clouds were silver lined;
And now I understand 'twas best for me
He washed my eyes with tears that I might see.
Ira Stanphill
I read a blog from March by you involving the song "I Already Knew"...I noticed you couldn't find the track online; but since you sang it for your church I was wondering if you knew the artist, composer, etc. so I could possibly find it at a Christian music store. I can not find out who sang it, and I just heard it at church this past week; I've asked the church I heard it at but they do not know the answer....I've googled it and can not find the answer...I'd really like to pick up a copy of the CD or the sheet music or something for my mother in law.. my father in law died incredibly unexpectedly this last Christmas-- he was only 49 years old-- and I think this song would really minister to her. So if you have the track lying around or if your music minister has the CD or sheet music, could you please take a gander at it and let me know exactly what it is so I can try to find it? You are the only post about this song I can find on the entire internet!!! Much appreciation!!! i do not blog, so please respond to a_b_cary@yahoo.com
alisha cary
yukon, oklahoma
Powerful witness you have given in this post today.
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