So back a few months ago i was catching up with some friends on facebook when one of my friends(who also has a blog) linked to a Booksneeze offer to be a Women of faith blogger. They were offering not just one BUT two free tickets to any of the Women of Faith Conferences this fall. All you had to do was send in some info,post a badge to your website and publish two blog posts one before and one after the conference!. I was super excited But I figured who would select me and my little old blog! I knew too that this could be a great chance for me to go since funds are limited. Well i had no idea how many they would choose probably only one per city right so when I saw that my friend Jen from Reflections in the window had been chosen I was bummed BUT the tickets went to a great blogger …..But when I went to check my email can you guess my delight when I too had been chosen. I was ECSTATIC!
This joy was renewed when I got my tickets in the mail too. But I was also reminded that I had to write this blog post…..
So if at all possible come join me in Rochester for the Women of faith Imagine tour November 4th and 5th!
And A HUGE thank you to both Women of Faith and Booksneeze for such an awesome privilege!
WAIT…you must be saying it is something YOU are to be thankful for NOT ME…Well I am getting there, but let me finish first.
ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR YOUR PASTOR’S WIFE??
October is right around the corner and that is pastor’s appreciation Month. I just wanted to challenge you to think outside the box because the pastor may have some other people in his life that may just sacrifice more than he does…and are more than likely forgotten and they are the pastor’s family BOTH wife AND kids!!
Do you even know your pastor’s wife? Have you taken the time to get to know her? I am guessing that if you haven’t you are missing out on some very interesting people. here’s why…..the road God takespeople on to get them ready for ministry is usually a very unique one! She is more than likely a pretty neat person and you are missing out on something pretty special.
Now it is no secret to you all that I AM a pastor’s wife , so by now you are all thinking SHE’S BURNING SOME BRIDGES….Oh that is quite the contrary and that is what i am thankful for this thursday and really every day of the week.
God has brought us to a wonderful church family who more than takes care of us and loves us so much. they encourage us to keep up the good job that we are doing and they LOVE US for who we are…and that last one is really the most important of all!
And that is why i wrote this blog post…I think every pastor’s wife should be as blessed as I am and hopefully this pastor’s appreciation month you will remember her as much as she thinks of and prays for you!
Boy I have been toying this idea around for about a week or so now ans slowly I have developed something that I think I can really sink my teeth into….Metaphorically speaking…Otherwise it would be GROSS!
I have just started reading the book of Isaiah In my daily devotions. I have always struggled with the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah. They are depressing BUT on the day i started I got a nugget of truth that just impacted me so very deeply!
So lets get started….
Let’s ;look at Isaiah Chapter 1 verses 11 through 17
Isa 1:11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. Isa 1:12 “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Isa 1:13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations– I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Isa 1:14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. Isa 1:15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Isa 1:16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, Isa 1:17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. (ESV)
So basically God is telling the Isrealites that because your heart is not right your offerings mean nothing to Me.
If you remember back to the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Old Testament) God gives the Hebrew people a list of sacrifices that they had to make. Some were peace offerings, Some were offerings of thanksgiving Some some were sin offerings. When the New Testament begins and Jesus comes on the scene Jesus is Perfect He is all God and all Man. He is the only perfect person to walk the face of the Earth and He became the Last sacrifice needed to Atone (or Cover) our sins.. So after Jesus died did our sacrifices end? YES AND NO!
“But you just said …..”
I know I know Just hear me our….
We don’t need to have the Blood and Guts…But we ourselves need to give sacrificially….Of our time, our money, Our possessions…in short of ourselves. Noit just the things we want to give BUT everything..
SO how do I know this you may ask…Well Do you really think I’m going to leave you hanging after all of this…NO WAY…I have a verse from 1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (ESV)
Note the WHATEVER YOU DO…..DO ALL to the Glory of God….Not just some or part BUT ALL!!! So you see everything we do should be a LIVING sacrifice to God.
What a great reminder right? Well If you have a hard time remembering verses as I do….Heres a Help..coutesy of Steven Curtis Chapman and his song “DO EVERYTHING”
I heard a pastor while vacationing a few weeks ago speaking on ASA one of the king of Israel. Asa for the most part was a great king until he started turning away from God He was bitter and he refused to ask God for help when he was ailing in his final days…So that is where these points are going to come from….
You are telling God….
He’s not powerful enough
He’s not smart enough
You are rejecting God as your Lord
you are declaring your independence from God
you are rejecting the fellowship with God
What you are TRYING to steal from Him…
omnipotence
Omniscience
his Kingship
yourself
your fellowship
The first three you may try to steal them away, but it is impossible . You are communicating that you don’t care about God and the last two you ARE stealing from God. You are denying God the very things He created you for and that is a personal relationship with Him. These things impacted me SOOOO greatly and I have been such a different person.
When God is making something glaringly evident in your life and is growing a deep passion in your heart for something you believe he is calling you to do, when do you begin to share that dream? And with whom do you shire it?
I know that it’s all in God’t Timing but it is getting harder and harder to keep the excitement and joy bottled up!!!
I am so excited to see where God will lead! It’s an amazing feeling!!
