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This week has been so Rich in the Lord! Most of you know the plan was for me to be in Florida for the week but due to the ice/snow storm and two cancelled flights last weekend, I relented to stay home. Last week I shared with you all that I committed to keeping my Mind stayed on the Lord and HE promised to give me Peace.
Because I had NO PLANS to be anywhere (except one day that got cancelled bc of a stomach bug) I was able to just bask in the Lord and spend some serious time with HIM, which turned out to be somewhat of a mini retreat. Only I didn't have to go to a hotel, listen to a speaker....NOPE. It was just me and the LORD, HIS Word, and the HOLY SPIRIT.
How my hearts swells with JOY and with PEACE. I cannot describe how many ISSUES the Lord dealt with me over, or how many times He has ministered to me.
I learned this week that I have allowed some OFFENSES to build up in me. As I drove to bible study on Thursday, I found myself crying out to the Lord "WHY??? Why did Daddy not have more time, why was he not able to have surgery to remove the tumor and take a portion of his lung etc." Well, guess what Bible Study was about.... Guess what the video at Bible Study was about......yep, being offended. I have never known with so much certainty that I was to be EXACTLY where I am! Each time I walk in to Bible study someone says something that causes me such pain ( mournful pain...for instance ~ the #1 prayer request this week goes something like this....I am on my way to Oklahoma City to be with my Dad. He is dying. He has lung and liver cancer and has gotten pnuemonia so we know his time is short....GULP ~ here come the tears ) BUT here is the thing.....It allows the Lord to minister to me even when I didn't know it was necessary !!! Here are just some bullet points I want to share with you for you to ask yourself.
When offended and you get mad ~ what do you do in your anger? are you afraid to get in there and try again?
Do you go into seclusion? or do you just disengage your heart and put on a pretty smile anyway pretending to be happy to be at church or sing those worship songs?
David was so upset when Uzzah was killed for touching the Ark of the God (2 Sam 6). David was angry and afraid, he went off to be alone and was very mad at God.
Here is the thing that STRUCK me that Beth Moore shared....
your enemy is BANKING ON us STAYING in the anger and fear! He desires for us to not only stay mad but he wants us to LOSE ground in our walk. We LOSE ground WAY FASTER than we gain it my friends!!
David had a heart after God....even though....he committed adultery....he committed murder.....he got mad at God. But even when David did these things he repented and sought the LORD.
I know I do not ever want to allow the enemy an opportunity EVER to have a foothold in my life or my walk NO MATTER what comes my way
As David says in 2Samuel 7:18
Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that YOU have brought me this far??
Thank you Lord
18 comments:
Thank you for such an honest and heartfelt post.
May God bless you and comfort you.
The Lord has used Beth Moore to minister to me many times so I can totally relate. So sorry to hear about your dad. I lost my father to lung cancer about 4 years ago. Thanks for sharing. ~
David is an amazing example for us to see. I love what you pointed out in the second to last paragraph. He did ALL those things and yet with repentance his heart was one God admires. Thanks for sharing. Congrats on the ground you have taken back!
May God greatly bless your heart my dear friend, love you.
God has complete control of everything in our lives, even down to the weather and missed flights!!!
I just finished reading "The Bait of Satan" by John Bevere and will be posting about it in the next day or so :o) It is about being offended and a must read book for each of us. I trust you will read it, if you haven't done so already.
Have a blessed Sabbath.
This was soo good Loren, and of course soo true. The enemy knows of course where we are weak and will just keep a constant stream of needling going on it seems at times. Praise God He is there to handle it all for us. I love Beth Moore's studies. Thanks for sharing this, it really blessed me. Have a great day. Hugs, Debbie
God's plan is always so much wiser than ours. I praise GOD you were open to see HIS plan and purpose in your disappointment.
Blessings, hugs, and prayers,
andrea
I can relate. Seclusion is my haven. And fear overwhelms. But in church this morning, we studied about the Ark of the Covenant returning and David knew how it was suppose to be carried, yet he went along with the "new cart" design it says. I love it that God shows us men like David were disobedient but his heart loved God and though he got angry, scripture says "he reminded himself that he was made king." 1 Chron 14:2 Let's remember whose we are and not cave in but fight the good fight! Let's uphold one another and win the battle.
Thanks for sharing from your heart. Good "stuff" here.
Awesome reminder about the tactics of our enemy and the desires or our Heavenly Father to come to Him with our offenses. He already knows....anyway. Aren't we all glad God's schedules and plans intervene and override ours when He is working in us???? Amen.
I knew in my heart that something wonderful was going to happen this past week. God Bless you and thank-you so much for sharing your heart with us.
Ginger
God has many ways of reminding us that he has everything under control and even when we don't understand it we just need to trust Him. Thank you for sharing these thoughts with us. It has been helpful to me and I know it has to many others.
Blessings for a good week ahead.
Charlotte
God is so good to show us the things in our heart that we hide even from our own selves so that we can surrender them to Him and He can heal and make us whole. Sometimes it is so painful to deal with but so much freedom when we do. It sounds like the Lord is using this Bible study to bring you to a greater depth of intimacy with and trust in Him. I love that you shared this here today Loren. When you are weak, you are truly strong! :)
Thank you for sharing those thoughts of encouragement. Blessings ~
Excellent post! Thanks so much for sharing.
Hope your week is blessed.
Bethany
Hi Loren! I left a blog award for you on my blog. Please stop on over and pick it up! Love ya girl!
Awesome Loren. It is so great to spend time in the Lord! Have a wonderful week!
Hugs,
mimi
Loren
That was an incredible post... I needed that.
Charlie
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