Original Post:
Good Morning! For those of you who have been following my blog I just realized that I should let you know a bit more about what’s been going on lately.
About 2-3 weeks ago I was in church praying about why it was taking so long for the dentist office to get my partial plate ready so my teeth could be pulled and get on with the whole process. I truly believe that God asked me what I was willing to commit to after this all transpired. Just then, an announcement was made in church that they were in need of greeters. So, I said I would volunteer to be one. Then, I kept hearing the word ‘patio’ where the greeter hands out the name tags to our regular attendees. I told the Lord about how awful I am with names (like he didn’t know…LOL). I heard him ask me how was I planning on getting better with it? HA! I guess that’s it, huh? So, I volunteered that morning to become a greeter as soon as I’d had my teeth pulled and gotten through the adjustment process.
Funny thing to note, the present greeter at the name tags says she’s also terrible with names. But, she seems so good with them.
The same Sunday my step-son talked to our minister of music about getting back on the Worship Team. (He had been off of it since his move to Tampa last year but had started coming back to our church in Bradenton in September of this year).
Well, finally, last Thursday I got two teeth pulled and got my partial plate. Now I’m working through adjusting to them, which I’ve asked for many prayers for. I’m already starting to eat with them, just this morning on a little harder food.
My step-son starts back on the Worship Team with practice tonight. I have just committed to start being a greeter in almost 2 weeks, the Sunday following Thanksgiving. My step-son and I will be riding into church together. I will be able to read my Bible and pray over the congregation, etc….in the sanctuary before having to go out front and greet people. We know this whole thing has been ordered by the Lord.
And, more to come!
And, I received a devotional this morning that truly spoke to me and I believe goes along with this blog entry. Hoping you enjoy it as much as I do:
GIVE UP ON MEASURING UP
by David Wilkerson
“The people feared the presence of the Lord . . . and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God” (Haggai 1:12, 14). The Israelites were convicted of their self-interests and returned to working on rebuilding the temple. They were back where they should be—building the house of God! They stood before the foundation of the temple and the walls were beginning to go up. But something was wrong and many of the older people began to weep! Why?
by David Wilkerson
“The people feared the presence of the Lord . . . and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God” (Haggai 1:12, 14). The Israelites were convicted of their self-interests and returned to working on rebuilding the temple. They were back where they should be—building the house of God! They stood before the foundation of the temple and the walls were beginning to go up. But something was wrong and many of the older people began to weep! Why?
Because they had seen the splendor of Solomon’s temple sixty-eight years before and this new one did not measure up. In comparison, it seemed as nothing! The people began to talk of past glory, saying, “This temple has no ark in it, no mercy seat or cherubim. There is no consuming fire on the altar, no Shekinah glory coming down on the house. After all our hard work, all our sacrifice and obedience, all our putting God’s interests first, we don’t measure up! This is nothing compared to what we once saw. Why struggle, why go on, when we see so little for all that we’ve done?”
A host of God’s people today are giving up because they do not think they will ever measure up! Like the Israelites, they have gone back to God, back to putting Him first, seeking His will, building His house. But when they look at their lives, they say, “I have so little to show for all my struggles! I have so little of God’s holiness, so little of His glory in my life. Compared to other Christians, I’ll never measure up. What’s the use of struggling? I’ll never have victory.”
I am convinced this is why many devoted Christians give up the fight. They compare themselves to other believers and become discouraged because they feel hopelessly inferior! If you will just stay true to the Lord and not try to measure yourself by anything except your own love for Jesus, you can be assured that you are growing—and God promises to be with you!
Beloved, you can mark this down, because it is God’s promise to you! From the very hour you focus again on building up Christ’s body—setting aside all thoughts of measuring up and all selfish ways, letting Him become your all—you will begin to see His manifold blessing. You can literally mark it down! You will know He is favoring you, smiling on you, rejoicing in you!
May God bless you through my writing. If He has especially touched you in any way, please leave a comment below. Your comments are so very encouraging to me to help me to keep writing. Also, click on the “Uptweet” button on the above right and share! I pray you will keep coming back. I fully believe that my writing is by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so if I am writing, there is someone that needs to read it! Maybe it’s you? Also, please be sure to share any questions you might have with me and if you would like to keep them personal (just between you and me) please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at juliana.pace@gmail.com. If I don’t know how to answer you, I will may every attempt to refer you to someone for more information. Thanks and may God bless all your days!
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