• Nov. 18, 2007
A Spirit of Thankfulness
My Pastor's message this morning was on thankfulness. It really ministered to me and challenged me. A spirit of thankfulness is a choice to adopt a certain perspective on life.1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Psalm 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
Ephesians 5:20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father
Phillipians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
I suppose what stood out to me the most was the selfishness that is ungratefulness. A spirit of thankfulness kills selfishness. Thankfulness is a choice that you make. It has nothing to do with what you do or do not have. Thankfulness is a weapon against satan. Don't be robbed of your joy by focusing on what you don't have. Don't be so wrapped up in yourself that you can't see the needs of others.
"We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown; but we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us."
- Abraham Lincoln
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• Nov. 11, 2007
Malawian Bread Basket
"Hunger is a curious thing. At first it is with you all the time, working and sleeping and in your dreams, and your belly cries out insistently, and there is a gnawing and a pain as if your very vitals were being devoured, and you must stop it at any cost. Then the pain is no longer sharp, but dull, and this, too, is with you always."
-This is Kamala Markandaya's testament to the nature of hunger in her life and the life of other hungry Malawians.-
Have you ever been this hungry? Have you ever watched your children so hungry for so long that they no longer even cried about the hunger? Me neither. I can't imagine a hunger so strong that I would eat leaves and bark just to stay alive. But there are people in Malawi who do just that.
Malawi is the 4th poorest country in the world. Although normally self-sufficient in food, especially maize, Malawi is going through a great famine. About 70% of the 6 million Malawians who live below the poverty line are in danger of starvation.
The months of November through March are known as "The Hungry Season" while they wait for their new crop to be harvested. 76% of rural families are left with no food reserves at all.
What can we do to help?
You can help to save a family's life for the cost of one meal!
To find out what $21.00 a month can buy and to find out how you can help, please visit this website. Every penny that you give goes to Malawi. No salaries are paid and no commissions are earned. if you would like more information please email Pastor Emile Wolfaardt at Emile@Wolfaardt.com . You can also get information by mailing to-
The Family Partnership Program, P.O. Box 1514, Enka, 28728, USA.
I know that this probably breaks your heart just like it does mine. We don't like to think about ANYONE starving, even a stranger. I also know very well the feeling of wanting to make a difference and thinking that there is no way I possibly can. I am only one person. We are only one family. I can't even pay my own bills. I've said it all before. But I ask you to please seek God about this and see if He is leading you to join with the Family Partnership Program and help these beautiful people.
The Malawian Bread Basket is part of The GAP Ministry (Global Apostolic Partnership).
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• Oct. 11, 2007
Love is Patient
As I was doing my Bible study this morning a couple of things really stood out to me. As you may already know, I am participating in a Beth Moore Bible study about the fruit of the Spirit. We are beginning with love.
Love can mean so many things. There is eros love which means "longing and desire". It is a selfish love asking what you can get for yourself. There is philos love which is the love one has for a friend or companion-a brotherly love. Then there is agape love. This is the God kind of love. It's the love spoken about in 1 Corinthians 13. It's the love that caused Jesus to be willing to die for us. This is the love God wants us to exhibit to each other.
1 Cor 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
I don't know about you, but that certainly challenges me! I want to pick out 2 of these characteristics of love in particular because they spoke to me this morning.
First off is- Love is patient. Right off the bat this one nails me on the head! I tend to be a very patient person. Well, I thought I was anyway.
The problem with my thinking was that I equated patience with stubbornness. A feeling that I can hold out long enough to get whatever it is that I am wanting. Do you know what patience means here? The Greek word is makrothumia. It means "a person who is able to avenge himself yet refrains from doing so." Wow, that is so different than my thoughts. And much more convicting.
This speaks to me 2 things. The first is how absolutely this describes Jesus' sacrifice for us. As the song goes-It wasn't the nails that held him to the cross. He could have come down, but the world would still be lost.. Now that, my friend, is love.
Now lets speak practically. The second thing is the way I treat my family. In particular-my children. My tendency is to be fairly strict with my kids. I expect certain things of them. Which is generally good. I expect them to obey and be respectful. I expect them to do their chores in a timely manner. I expect them to treat each other as they want to be treated.
The problem comes when they fail to live up to those expectations. Or at least I thought that was the problem. As it turns out, the problem is my reaction to them when they stumble. Where is the grace? My kids have to answer to God the same as I do. He chooses to not avenge himself - to extend grace. What right do I have to be any different.
On days when I've had it up to here (you know what I mean) with the slowness in getting school done, the bickering with each other, the chores that still aren't done- I can choose to be patient. I don't have to loose it.
Wow, I just looked back over this and was shocked at how long it was. So I'll try to be brief on the next characteristic of love that stood out to me- Agape (love) always protects. The Greek word for protects is stego and it means "to cover over in silence." It means that love does not expose the faults of others.
In a family we know each other very well. The good, the bad, and the ugly. With our husbands especially. When we've been hurt by them, alot of times we want a little sympathy. So what do we do? We call up our girlfriends and tell them all about it. Ladies- this is not agape love to our husbands. We do not need to broadcast their shortcomings to others just in order to feel better about ourselves. I have been guilty of this more times than I like to admit.
If I am quick to notice fault and it is easy for me to expose that fault, then I am not exercising agape.
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• Sep. 27, 2007
Girl's Bible Study
I joined a Bible study group at church. Although I did miss the first session because I was so sick last week. Tonight will be another one though. I'm really looking forward to it. We are going through a book called Living Beyond Yourself-Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit written by Beth Moore. It's a trip through the book of Galations.
To tell you the truth it's been a lot more work and depth than I expected. I'm a week behind and thought I would have no trouble catching up. Then I got started and saw how much work was required in just one day. This is a good thing though. I do a lot better at reading my Bible and spending daily time with the Lord when I have others to be accountable to.
What stood out in my mind today was about a woman's influence. When Paul was on his missionary journey to Antioch, the Jews were not happy about the effect his message was having on the region. So what did the Jews do? They incited the women. Paul called these women 'devout and honorable'. The women (and some men) in turn stirred up persecutuion against Paul and Barnabus and expelled them from the city.
Consider to whom the serpent went when he sought the ruin of Adam and Eve. He went to Eve.
How will we use our gift of influence? Will we teach, nurture, encourage, and build up? Or will we use our influence to cripple and tear down? I think about myself and how easy it is to let my temper flare with my family and the hurtful words that can't be taken back no matter how sorry you are. We must think before we speak and act. And when we know what the right thing is, we must have self control enough to do it.
Father, help me to follow you in words and in action.
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• Sep. 1, 2007
Spiritual Gifts
This last couple of days I've been working on material for a spiritual gifts class that I'm taking this weekend at church. One of the things I had to do before class began was to have 3 people who knew me fairly well to fill out a questionaire as to what they saw as my personal strengths and weaknesses. It's so interesting to see what people think about you.
I believe that everyone was created to fulfil a specific purpose. God didn't make you and then say, "Hmm, what can I have this person do." No, He had a need to be filled and created you to fill that need. We'll never feel satisfied in life until we are accomplishing our purpose.
More on this later. For now I need to go get ready for round 2!
