Lately I have been really wanting Jesus to come again and quickly. I am tired of this life. I am tired of struggling, fighting children, monotony, just getting by. I find it hard to be joyful in all my circumstances. I want to have more of the attitude Paul had but I am just not very good at it.
The Bible talks about how we should be joyful but on the other hand how we suffer. I would gladly leave this world and all it has to offer behind. I dislike trying to live in the world and not be of it. It is just too hard!
Today I am praying for God to show me the way. I know the truths of the Bible and all that God has promised us. I pray for clear direction on what my husband and I should be doing with our lives.
Collette, I pray you will hear clearly about the direction God has for you. I can relate with that. I feel like I'm floundering around.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, life is such a gift. We can breathe on our own, dress ourselves, run after our children, hold them in our arms, see the beauty God created, smell the sweetness of the flowers, hear the birds singing His praises ... the list could go on and on. I am writing this for myself because I've been having a pity party this morning. This is a good reminder TO ME.
I pray today will be exciting for you.
Love,
Beth
collette, i daresay that all of us have been at that point some time in our lives. sometimes this old life just seems to be too much and i think that God intends it that way! He doesn't want us to forget that this is NOT our home. We indeed should long for our eternal home, but lets not forget that we need to be doing all we can while we are here to spread the gospel of Jesus to all!
ReplyDeleteI am praying for you my friend. If you need anything specific to be prayed for, just email me...
Philipians 1: 18b -26
ReplyDeleteAnd I will continue to rejoice. 19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance. 20 For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. 21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. 22 But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. 23 I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. 24 But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.
25 Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith. 26 And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.
Take strength, Collette, one step at a time!
Collette,
ReplyDeleteI've been there right alongside you but recently have changed my attitude and asking for God to revive and refresh my attitude. Let there be joy overflowing and abundant so much in my life that anyone around me would catch the overspray. You know what, He has down it. I just need to be seeking Him at the beginning of my day and remain faithful to Him no matter how I feel inside.
I refuse to be controlled by my emotions any longer, I chose to have a dog-like attitude. Ever notice how dogs are always happy go lucky no matter what is going on in their life? They always have a tail wag and a willingness to come whenever they know their master's voice.
I turn this around and see how we need to feel that way about God, no matter the circumstances we are facing, we need to find that joy in the every day. It's there, God's willing to show it to us, we just need to hear His voice. Praying for you to receive and over abundance of His Spirit pouring you joy and happiness into your soul.
Love and Hugs ~ Kat
Collette,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated your friend Kat's comments this morning: "Let there be joy overflowing and abundant so much in my life that anyone around me would catch the overspray."
What a difference that overspray can make to friends and families who don't yet know the Lord, to other believers who need encouragement and ultimately to God who delights in the praises of His people.
And Evie (a Christian singer of the 80's) had a line of lyrics which has always stuck in my mind.
"Even if heaven hadn't been promised to me, it would be worth it just knowing the Lord in my life!"
There are many blessings which God can only pour into us during our time on earth. The blessings in heaven will be different just as our existance there will be different.
So for now....Heaven is our goal, our eternal home, our fullness of joy place of residence...but right now we have the joy and privilage of living for and representing our Lord Jesus and in some small way reflecting something of God's character to a world, which without Him, has no Hope for the future.
I choose to be joyful today!!!
Love,
Isabel
Collette,
ReplyDeleteI pop by to check out your blog regularly. And then after reading about being a mum, women's role in church, crafting and PMT I head off to somehow boost my testoserone levels by spending at least as long on a football site or something...!
I couldn't just read your latest entry without replying however. A whole week's worth of service and living among Christians from our Church was an encouragement to me (camp 2-0-1-0 was another brilliant week of blessing for heaps of the campers and leaders). Looking back at that week I can't ignore the truth that God's saved us not just to live in Heaven but part of His masterplan is for us to be useful here.
That isn't a surprise to you either, as we've recently studied Philippians where we read
-I...hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honour to Christ, whether I live or die. For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better (1.20-22)
-Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life (2.14-16)
We've thought about Paul's persepective on the prospect of heaven and reading your blog it's clear you're convinced that it's a reality and that's vitally important. Sometimes we kind of forget that it's not just something we tell the kids about but is an actual destination for us once our short time down here ends! We need to keep reminding ourselves about heaven (as we studied recently in Colossians 3: "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honour at God’s right hand."). It's great that you have Heaven in your sight.
That said, we can't read the Bible without seeing that our lives don't end when we become Christians. That "conversion moment" is just the start of something that will culminate in Heaven. You and I are called to serve Him in church (where every person has a role to fulfill and unique gifts to offer), at home (where we have kids to teach and raise and a spouse who we have to love and submit to) and in our community (where there are people who are literally without hope and we have the "answer"). No matter how appealing the prospect of heaven, neither of us should avoid our Christian responsibilities to any of these groups...if we're tempted to we can again look at Paul's example. He wasn't selfish in the knowledge that his future was secure- he worked tirelessly to share the good news of the gospel (and that was in spite of some horrendous situations 2 Corinthians 11:21-33).
Finally, another lesson we learned from Colossians 3: "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people"...If everything we do is for Him, and He's given us blessing after blessing, countless reasons to be joyful our lives shouldn't be filled with negativity.
Hope you're felling more positive, joyful and purposeful today, Collette. Say hi to Jacob and Emma from Daisy, Heidi and Logan!
Chris x
Dear Collette, I hope you don't feel bombarded but I felt that I also wanted to respond as a friend.I hope I don't repeat too much of what's been said already but I think there's been some really good replies. I think there is a reason that God doesn't just take us away to heaven as soon as we become Christians; we have a life of purpose to fulfill here on earth and while you're right, this world is not our home, we have a responsability as temporary citizens to be shining lights here: Matthew 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Jesus' prayer(which Chris talked about in his wee thought at camp) is about us not being part of this world any more than He is but He says He is not asking God to take us out of it but just that He would protect us from Satan and He says “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy"
ReplyDeleteWhen struggling with the kids and having to discipline them, I try to remember what a privilege(although daunting) it is to be the one God has chosen to be responsible for helping to mould and shape these wee characters into the kind of people they're going to be.Although it can be a struggle and real hard work, what a joy it is to see them grow and develop, and when Jacob tells you about his appreciation of who God is, or Emma tells you she loves you, it makes it all worth it, doesn't it? My daily prayer is that the joy of the Lord would shine through me and the verse that has been going through my mind over the last couple of days is 'always be joyful'1 Thess 5:16 but while I was looking up the exact reference for this, I came across so many other verses urging us to be full of joy...here are a few: John 15:11 "I have told you these things so that you will be filled with MY(Jesus')joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
Romans 12:12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
Psalm 144:15Happy are the people who are in such a state; Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!
I've mentioned to you before that my favourite verse is Philippians 4:6 "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." It tells us not just to avoid worrying about stuff but also to actively appreciate the good things in our lives too.
I hope these verses have been as encouraging to you as they have been to me.
Love, Elaine x