" 'I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.' 11I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. 13For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15He who has ears, let him hear.
16"To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
17" 'We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge
and you did not mourn.' 18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions.""
Sorry for the late start. I slept over at Dayari's again last night and her laptop and I were having a field day of issues. This is still great and insightful words from the Lord, even if it didn't come at six in the morning. I love how it says "the kingdom is forcefully advancing, and forceful men take hold of it." That says a lot to those skeptics that believe that Christianity is a fad and it will die out. First of all, look at how long it has been around, secondly, it's STILL around, and thirdly, it's been advancing. I love the word "forcefully" there. No- it's not indicating that we are killing people in the name of Jesus and shoving our beliefs down your throat (I'm so sick of hearing that.) But there's a reason why a person feels that way. Like I always say... when you're faced with the truth, it's uncomfortable- because you are faced with a decision: "what am I doing to do about this?" Change, and accept the cross and Jesus' unending love and his blessings and (heavenforbid!) he will make you into a better person... or turn your back on the truth and continue to live your life in doubt and sin and hurt and wounds, etc etc... It seems pretty obvious to me which is the better door to walk through. Anyhow, tangent. Sorry. The word "forcefully" says to me that once God has changed your heart, opened your eyes, you want nothing MORE than to help change other people's lives, so yes, you will talk about your beliefs. Yes, you will offer chances to help other's eyes to open. I'm just so baffled by people's responses sometimes. (I mean, don't get me wrong, I haven't had anything happen lately that is bringing this up, it's strictly the verses speaking to me.) But it's like once you see, you SEE! And I guess if you just don't, you don't. I know. I didn't before. But now I do.
Wow, my mind is a jumble right now of randomness, so my apologies for anyone reading, but at least all this makes sense to me. Last night I went to the movies and I saw "Slumdog Millionaire". It was a love story, yes, but my goodness was it an eye-opener on other cultures, on others struggling so much harder than myself right now. How selfish of me to even MENTION that I hate that my car doesn't have a heater when it's so cold out. At least I have a car. (Falling apart and all!) I have a car. I'm not going to downsize what I've been through in life. It's been tough. Really tough. But it's always good to realize that someone else somewhere else is going through something ten times worse than you. And no, you don't use that as a "whew! at least it's not THAT bad" but more of a "I need to shut up, seriously. And be thankful for what I do have."
Anyhow, I'm going to start reading a book that Dayari is letting me borrow called "Battlefield of the Mind" (yes,it's Joyce Meyers. Stop laughing at me.) It looks really interesting and it might actually open up my eyes a bit to see what's going on in my head all the time. My biggest battle is always in my mind. I'll let thoughts take place, thoughts turn into many emotions: happiness, fear, resentment, jealousy, joy, grief, etc etc. It's then that those emotions usually turn into actions: laughing, crying, yelling, cursing, grumbling, laziness, etc etc. And I know that. I understand that. And I want to battle that so it's no longer my cycle of how I work. I don't want to be controlled by my emotions... I want God to have full control over me. So I'm excited to see what God will begin to do with me.
Lord,
I thank you for where I am right now. Physically, emotionally, spiritually. I don't want to be anywhere other than where you want me to be. I want nothing more than to have YOU lead me where I should go. Do things only because I've gotten the OKAY from YOU. Please forgive me for even the small grumblings I've had("I don't have a home, my car is falling apart, I can't find a job I want, I don't have any money, I can't afford that, they have it so much better than me, etc etc") Forgive me and change my heart more and more each day. Give me a thankful heart. Give me your heart, Jesus. Holy Spirit, be with me today. Always. Never leave my side. My heart. I love you, Jesus, with a love so great I can't put the right words to it. Shulukt. Shulukt. Shulukt. Shulukt. I love you. I can already turn around and see just how far I've come and I'm already amazed that I have no desire to return to my old me. You're changing me. And I love it. Shulukt.
amen.
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