Hey Ladies,
I have sent a note out to all our Friendships of Women Leaders about the clothing drive for Vision Ministries. Every third Thursday of the month Vision Ministries has a community wide clothing give-away. They are in desperate need of spring/summer clothing for all ages. If you have items you would like to donate I will need to have them by April 9th. Please do not drop off at the church unless you make arrangements with me in advance. Also, please only donate usable clothing, no clothing with stains, rips or heavily worn out.
You can deliver your donated items to your group leader or contact me 734-856-4397 to arrange a drop-off time with me. And, if you would be interested in volunteering to help sort the clothing and prepare it for distribution let me know by April 10th.
Thanks Ladies,
Love you all,
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Balance
First I want to share a visual I received that I believe to have been given to me by the Holy Spirit, then I'll share my thoughts:
I see a woman standing before a mirror fixing herself as if she was preparing to go out. She seems to be pleased with everything but is taking extra time to make sure her hair is just perfect. When you look close you can see a small blemish or wound on her arm, but she pays no attention to it and continues to make her hair look beautiful. She takes great strides to ensure her hair remains healthy by using the finest of hair products and giving it the attention it needs.
As time goes by you can see her hair looking so lovely but you can see that the blemish is becoming bigger and somewhat inflamed. Yet she gives it little thought even though it is causing her a some discomfort. More time passes and one day when she comes to the mirror to brush her beautiful hair, large masses of her hair have fallen out and she has this terrible ache within her body. The blemish has grown into a huge sore that is now infecting her entire body.
I have thought about how we can be this same way in many areas of our lives. Lets face it, none of us really like to look at/or deal with our weaknesses. But without close observation of our entire lives we can so easily look right past an area in our lives that could become just like this seeping wound. For instance as moms we can sometimes be so focused on being a good mom that we can kinda stink at being a good wife. Or as moms we can sometimes try so hard to be our childs friend that we risk falling short at being their parent. How about those who have floors you could literally eat a meal off of yet the relationships surrounding her life are falling apart.
There are many areas we can look at in our lives and find ourselves out of balance, including our relationship with God. We can be diligent at making sure we attend every single church function, yet very rarely go to the Lord in prayer. How about knowing the word of God inside, outside and everyway in between, your the first to speak out when someone questions the location of a verse, then we turn around and speak unfavorably about a neighbor or friend.
Being well rounded in our walk with Christ is key to living a well round or balanced life in all areas of our human existence. For many christians it can be all about squeaking through those gates into heaven once we leave this earth and that can become our goal, all the while forgetting about what we are here to do for the glory of God. We forget about the life we're living and who we are living it for even while we're living it. It all starts to be about how good it all looks, life in the physical; and do we look like we're doing well to others? 1 Corintians 15: 44b-49 " If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So, also it is written, "The first man Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthly; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthly, so also are those who are earthly; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly, we will also bear the image of the heavenly." Paul goes on to tell us that in 1 Corinthians "flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God"
Balance. The flesh and the spirit functioning as One. Having a watchful eye, a willingness to look and see and acknowledge then surrender those areas to God. Staying in constant connection with Him while we listen for His voice to help strengthen us in these areas we can very often find ourselves wanting to ignore. But if we do, they will have a devastatingly painful effect on our lives, physically and spiritually
Believe me I do not want to even in the slightest sense give the impression that I even think I've got it all together in this area of balance, but I'm working on it and this is what I have discovered so far; Jesus needs to be my number One in EVERY area of this life He has given me. It's hard to face our weaknesses but with Jesus it can be so much easier to face those weaknesses. We can face these areas in our lives before they destroy and we can face them without shame. Jesus took the shame when He took the nails upon the Cross at Calvary.
Jesus loves us so much, He wants to hold us as we face these ugly sores in our lives, He will show His strength in our weakness and He will bring us through that He may bring healing.
So, lets go to Him today:
Father we praise You, for You are worthy to be praised, and we thank you for this day and the very breathe You have given us. Father, it can be so hard to be in balance with our lives and it is so painful to look at our weaknesses, but You Lord have promised us in Your word, to give us strength when we call upon You, surrendering every area of our lives to You. Lord, show Your glory through our weaknesses, that the world may see Your might. Let our hearts feel warmth in Your presence, that Your love will saturate every part of our being all the while, teach us to balance our lives in a way that is pleasing to You, we love You Lord, in Jesus Name, Amen
I see a woman standing before a mirror fixing herself as if she was preparing to go out. She seems to be pleased with everything but is taking extra time to make sure her hair is just perfect. When you look close you can see a small blemish or wound on her arm, but she pays no attention to it and continues to make her hair look beautiful. She takes great strides to ensure her hair remains healthy by using the finest of hair products and giving it the attention it needs.
As time goes by you can see her hair looking so lovely but you can see that the blemish is becoming bigger and somewhat inflamed. Yet she gives it little thought even though it is causing her a some discomfort. More time passes and one day when she comes to the mirror to brush her beautiful hair, large masses of her hair have fallen out and she has this terrible ache within her body. The blemish has grown into a huge sore that is now infecting her entire body.
I have thought about how we can be this same way in many areas of our lives. Lets face it, none of us really like to look at/or deal with our weaknesses. But without close observation of our entire lives we can so easily look right past an area in our lives that could become just like this seeping wound. For instance as moms we can sometimes be so focused on being a good mom that we can kinda stink at being a good wife. Or as moms we can sometimes try so hard to be our childs friend that we risk falling short at being their parent. How about those who have floors you could literally eat a meal off of yet the relationships surrounding her life are falling apart.
There are many areas we can look at in our lives and find ourselves out of balance, including our relationship with God. We can be diligent at making sure we attend every single church function, yet very rarely go to the Lord in prayer. How about knowing the word of God inside, outside and everyway in between, your the first to speak out when someone questions the location of a verse, then we turn around and speak unfavorably about a neighbor or friend.
Being well rounded in our walk with Christ is key to living a well round or balanced life in all areas of our human existence. For many christians it can be all about squeaking through those gates into heaven once we leave this earth and that can become our goal, all the while forgetting about what we are here to do for the glory of God. We forget about the life we're living and who we are living it for even while we're living it. It all starts to be about how good it all looks, life in the physical; and do we look like we're doing well to others? 1 Corintians 15: 44b-49 " If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So, also it is written, "The first man Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthly; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthly, so also are those who are earthly; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly, we will also bear the image of the heavenly." Paul goes on to tell us that in 1 Corinthians "flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God"
Balance. The flesh and the spirit functioning as One. Having a watchful eye, a willingness to look and see and acknowledge then surrender those areas to God. Staying in constant connection with Him while we listen for His voice to help strengthen us in these areas we can very often find ourselves wanting to ignore. But if we do, they will have a devastatingly painful effect on our lives, physically and spiritually
Believe me I do not want to even in the slightest sense give the impression that I even think I've got it all together in this area of balance, but I'm working on it and this is what I have discovered so far; Jesus needs to be my number One in EVERY area of this life He has given me. It's hard to face our weaknesses but with Jesus it can be so much easier to face those weaknesses. We can face these areas in our lives before they destroy and we can face them without shame. Jesus took the shame when He took the nails upon the Cross at Calvary.
Jesus loves us so much, He wants to hold us as we face these ugly sores in our lives, He will show His strength in our weakness and He will bring us through that He may bring healing.
So, lets go to Him today:
Father we praise You, for You are worthy to be praised, and we thank you for this day and the very breathe You have given us. Father, it can be so hard to be in balance with our lives and it is so painful to look at our weaknesses, but You Lord have promised us in Your word, to give us strength when we call upon You, surrendering every area of our lives to You. Lord, show Your glory through our weaknesses, that the world may see Your might. Let our hearts feel warmth in Your presence, that Your love will saturate every part of our being all the while, teach us to balance our lives in a way that is pleasing to You, we love You Lord, in Jesus Name, Amen
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