I hope everyone has had a blessed Sunday. I know I sure have :). I stayed up late last night watching the Liberty Lady Flames play High Point. Unfortunately Liberty lost a close one in overtime to High Point.
This morning, it was a little tough to get up, but I was looking forward to getting to church in Lubin. I am not fluent in Polish, but praise the Lord someone graciously translated the message for me for which I am grateful! It is always nice to fellowship and be surrounded by fellow believers.
A few notes I took from the message today:
Intimacy with God
Example: Enoch - Genesis 5:21-25
1. Enoch walked with God
a. We must deny ourself and take up our cross.
b. We can gain the fruits of the Spirit when we follow and seek after the Lord.
2. Enoch saw God
Isaiah 6:1-6
Example - Job - when Job came to the end of his rope so to speak He realized that God was all he needed!
3. Enoch talked with God
*Talking to God is not just a one way deal. We must also take time to listen to Him
4. Enoch listened to God
Romans 10:17
5. Enoch acknowledged God
2 Timothy 3:16
6. Enoch experienced God
Philippians 4:4
Tomorrow we are back to 2 practices again. I have enjoyed today just being able to relax. After church I went to the store and stocked up on some food for the week. I ventured out and decided to get some fresh salmon, which meant I had to try to communicate with someone to get it. It worked out great, and I have to say the salmon was delicious!! It will last me a couple of meals which is nice :).
Touch Point:
Intimacy is a drawing closer to God as a result of knowing Him better and spending time with Him.
Verse of the Day:
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
--Joshua 1:8
Love this! What we meditate on our feed our mind will come back out in our thoughts, words, and actions. What am I feeding my mind? What are you feeding your mind?
My Utmost For His Highest:
God never tells us to give up things just for the sake of giving them up, but He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having, namely, life with Himself.”
It is about denying ourselves and taking up our cross to follow the one who died for our sins. When we sacrifice our time for others, that usually means we care for that person enough to help them out, run an errand, help out with a project, etc. When we ask the Lord to reign in us, it will require some purging of worldly or sinful things in order to be able to follow the Lord fully.
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I know that there is power in prayer, and I ask that you would pray for my Grandpa Frazee. He is currently in the hospital experiencing some heart and breathing problems. I recieved a call from my dad earlier today. The doctors are trying to figure out right now what is going on. I can rest in the fact that God is in control, and my Grandpa knows the Lord. I respect him and love him so much as I do all of my wonderful Grandparents!
I also wanted to share another prayer request. Please be in prayer for Lauren Scruggs. Her parents are keeping a caringbridge website to update people on her progress. I encourage you to take the time to read the updates. She was involved in a helicopter accident. You can find out about her story on the website below. What an amazing outlook the family has on the situation, and no doubt it is because of the Lord!!
Here is the link:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/laurenscruggs
Also, I wanted to copy the journal entry by Lauren's mom last night below:
written by CHERYL SCRUGGS
I sit here tonight, emotional.....wanting to go to sleep, but knowing God wants me to pour into your heart.
About this time, (10pm), 5 weeks ago, we were sitting in a conference room at a hospital, wondering what the fate of our daughter was going to be. When they finally walked in the room, they informed us she was stable enough for surgery that lasted well into the wee hours of the morning. At that particular moment Peace came over me. I knew God was holding her, and all of us.
We felt helpless.......but trusted that Jesus had her in His Hands. He had her wrapped in His Arms........
We know many of you have struggles of many kinds. Know that we are praying for whatever you are going through. Please know God is holding you. Please trust that He has you in His Arms. Please call out to Him.......... DON'T FORGET THAT HE IS THERE.....with YOU...and BESIDE YOU.
How much more comfort do we need than to know Jesus is there, no matter what happens? I read Lo her devotional tonight that reminded us to be "thankful in all circumstances". And we are.......
I think back over this tough last week. But we did have some bright spots.... a smile; laughter; a few tears, lots of hugs. What we finally realized is that we need to take every day, minute by minute, not sure how the next hour will be. The best we hope for every day, is for an adequate amount of rest and peace for her, and for us.
This is serious business, and much harder than we could have ever dreamed: she's had a brain injury which requires a great amount of sleep and rest. Talking is a major effort, and wears her out. Her severe shoulder injury slows her down in the simple things, like trying to dress herself, taking a shower, or putting lotion on after a shower. It's hard to raise her left shoulder just to put her arm in the shirt sleeve. Losing her left hand and her left eye makes life a different ball game altogether. Depth perception doesn't exist anymore. Not easy to overcome for walking or driving, ......but doable. She has a positive attitude, but this is tough. We praise God if she has a comfortable night's sleep, has a little bit of an appetite, and gets enough rest both physically and emotionally.
The days are quite tedious with therapy...
hopefully she can take a nap.....
Before we know it, dinner time arrives, she eats, and is ready to fall alseep by 8pm. That's all she has time for. That's all she can handle. It's all we can handle. We all go to sleep at night, thanking God we made it through yet another day.
Lo struggled with much pain this week. She couldn't even participate in therapy on Thurs because of it. But, she's a fighter and not one to ever give up trying. Please continue to pray for her pain to subside..............."Please Jesus".
As we have started this new year, our perspective has changed on many levels. The busyness we focused on before has dissipated.....Family and relationships are top priority in life......
Please be thankful for your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends....Allow God to use you to be there for others......don't waste your life (great book by John Piper) on menial things. Love well......show you care.....don't sweat the small stuff.
As I close my computer down, God whispered these questions in my ear:
What are you after in life?
What is your purpose?
I challenge you to ask God for yourself........
Trust me, He will show you.
What an awesome perspective and testimony this family is having!!I encourage you all to ask yourself:
1. WHAT ARE YOU AFTER IN LIFE?
2. WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?
A song I want to leave for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwkZ1kdaE9s
God bless,
Megan