One Year On
Dear Friends,
My blog has just had its first birthday! A year has gone by so quickly and I'm so grateful to God for enabling me to write a new post once a week for a whole year. On my own it would have been impossible and if anyone had told me more than a year ago that this would be one way I could serve God I don't think I would have believed them.
I want to thank you, dear friends, who have faithfully stayed the course with me so far and have given me so much encouragement along the way. God has blessed me so much as I have followed his leading and I trust that as you have read these posts that you too have been blessed and encouraged by God.
When a Christian friend made the suggestion of writing a blog I could so easily have got swept up in the moment, getting carried away with the idea without stopping to consider whether this was of God or not. It is often my way that I go full steam ahead when I get an idea without considering what the consequences of it may be. While an idea may be a good one it does not automatically follow that it is God's will for me to put it into action. So it's important to stop and take time to seek God on the matter.
Before I wrote my first post, there was an interim period of thinking it through and talking it through with God - Is God leading me in this direction? Is it possible? Yes, it is possible if the answer to my first question is yes. Although I'm familiar with other people's blogs, I had no idea how to develop my own. But again, I experienced God's help in this as those I would usually turn to, my husband and my son, had no knowledge of how to set up a blog.
I love Psalm 139 and in verses 13-16 we read "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." (NLT)
That means that before the idea of starting a blog had entered my thoughts, and even before the world and it's technology had introduced us to blogs, God knew that I would be writing a blog. He had it all planned out and I find that incredible! He knew that I would be sitting here with my laptop in front of me on the 24th April 2014 at 10.45am writing another post for the coming week.
Just as God has a plan for my life and how I use it, he also has a plan for your life. Has there been a thought, a new idea that he has planted in you? If he has and you're not sure what to do next, might I suggest some things you can do which are based on what I learned as I began looking into setting up my blog.
1. The most important thing for us to do when something new comes our way and we're not sure whether we're to be a part of it or not, is to seek God. Share your thoughts with him, ask him to confirm what you think may be from him.
2. Share with a Christian friend you respect. Look for a group of people who can support you in prayer, who will give advice, make suggestions and will encourage you.
3. Take some time to investigate it and find out more, don't rush into it and then regret it. Jesus tells us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Matthew 22:37 (NIV) God has given us our minds to use, he has given us common sense and he doesn't expect us to leave it at the door when it comes to our Christian faith. We are to use it alongside our faith and with the wisdom God gives us. But we are not to rely on our own thinking so much that we ignore our faith in God.
4. Then, when you are convinced of what God is leading you to, take that step, that leap of faith. There are so many examples of men and women in the bible who acted in faith, such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, Ruth, David, the disciples, Paul etc.
5. Trust that God is with you, he doesn't expect you to accomplish his will on your own, in fact if you try without him you will find you don't get very far. We read in Psalm 127:1 "Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted." (NLT) But with him, you will accomplish far beyond what you ever thought was possible. It says in Ephesians 3:20 "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think." (NLT) Remember he has given you the gift of his Holy Spirit, and he's the one who will enable to do all that he is calling you to.
6. Whatever you do as you follow God's will it is important that it is all done for the glory of God, rather than bringing glory and attention to ourselves. In 1 Peter 4:10-12 it says "God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. .. Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen." (NLT)
I can tell you from my own experience, there is much joy, satisfaction and fulfilment in doing what God has called you to do. Paul writes in Galatians 6:4 "Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else." (NLT) and David writes in Psalm 40:8 "I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.” (NLT)
To Think About:
Have you ever attempted to do something without relying on God's enabling help? What happened?
What difference does it make when you partner with God to achieve his will?
Take a moment to examine your motives as you seek to do God's will. What do your motives reveal to you?
Vicki
My blog has just had its first birthday! A year has gone by so quickly and I'm so grateful to God for enabling me to write a new post once a week for a whole year. On my own it would have been impossible and if anyone had told me more than a year ago that this would be one way I could serve God I don't think I would have believed them.
I want to thank you, dear friends, who have faithfully stayed the course with me so far and have given me so much encouragement along the way. God has blessed me so much as I have followed his leading and I trust that as you have read these posts that you too have been blessed and encouraged by God.
When a Christian friend made the suggestion of writing a blog I could so easily have got swept up in the moment, getting carried away with the idea without stopping to consider whether this was of God or not. It is often my way that I go full steam ahead when I get an idea without considering what the consequences of it may be. While an idea may be a good one it does not automatically follow that it is God's will for me to put it into action. So it's important to stop and take time to seek God on the matter.
Before I wrote my first post, there was an interim period of thinking it through and talking it through with God - Is God leading me in this direction? Is it possible? Yes, it is possible if the answer to my first question is yes. Although I'm familiar with other people's blogs, I had no idea how to develop my own. But again, I experienced God's help in this as those I would usually turn to, my husband and my son, had no knowledge of how to set up a blog.
I love Psalm 139 and in verses 13-16 we read "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." (NLT)
That means that before the idea of starting a blog had entered my thoughts, and even before the world and it's technology had introduced us to blogs, God knew that I would be writing a blog. He had it all planned out and I find that incredible! He knew that I would be sitting here with my laptop in front of me on the 24th April 2014 at 10.45am writing another post for the coming week.
Just as God has a plan for my life and how I use it, he also has a plan for your life. Has there been a thought, a new idea that he has planted in you? If he has and you're not sure what to do next, might I suggest some things you can do which are based on what I learned as I began looking into setting up my blog.
1. The most important thing for us to do when something new comes our way and we're not sure whether we're to be a part of it or not, is to seek God. Share your thoughts with him, ask him to confirm what you think may be from him.
2. Share with a Christian friend you respect. Look for a group of people who can support you in prayer, who will give advice, make suggestions and will encourage you.
3. Take some time to investigate it and find out more, don't rush into it and then regret it. Jesus tells us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Matthew 22:37 (NIV) God has given us our minds to use, he has given us common sense and he doesn't expect us to leave it at the door when it comes to our Christian faith. We are to use it alongside our faith and with the wisdom God gives us. But we are not to rely on our own thinking so much that we ignore our faith in God.
4. Then, when you are convinced of what God is leading you to, take that step, that leap of faith. There are so many examples of men and women in the bible who acted in faith, such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, Ruth, David, the disciples, Paul etc.
5. Trust that God is with you, he doesn't expect you to accomplish his will on your own, in fact if you try without him you will find you don't get very far. We read in Psalm 127:1 "Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted." (NLT) But with him, you will accomplish far beyond what you ever thought was possible. It says in Ephesians 3:20 "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think." (NLT) Remember he has given you the gift of his Holy Spirit, and he's the one who will enable to do all that he is calling you to.
6. Whatever you do as you follow God's will it is important that it is all done for the glory of God, rather than bringing glory and attention to ourselves. In 1 Peter 4:10-12 it says "God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. .. Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen." (NLT)
I can tell you from my own experience, there is much joy, satisfaction and fulfilment in doing what God has called you to do. Paul writes in Galatians 6:4 "Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else." (NLT) and David writes in Psalm 40:8 "I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.” (NLT)
To Think About:
Have you ever attempted to do something without relying on God's enabling help? What happened?
What difference does it make when you partner with God to achieve his will?
Take a moment to examine your motives as you seek to do God's will. What do your motives reveal to you?
Vicki
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