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Deeply Flawed…


“What makes life on this frightful sod so exquisite is God’s merciful propensity to perform divine tasks amid deeply flawed people.”
~Beth Moore, on her Blog The LPM Blog

Do I have ‘it’ altogether? Is my life ‘perfect’? Am I ‘perfect’? I have to answer all the questions with a NO!

I could just stop right here and leave you with a verse from my NT ‘hero’ Paul…

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” ~ 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 (ESV)

How many times have I crumpled under the pressure of ‘getting it right’? How many times did I want to throw in the towel? Too many times to count on one hand—believe me.

Only through God’s infinite mercy, grace and daily prayer is our marriage what it is today. Is it ‘perfect’? By no means—we are human. But we are committed to each other and do our best to work through things. BTW – we are celebrating our 24th anniversary on Sunday…

If my life were ‘perfect’ I would be living closer to my mom…If I had it all together, I wouldn’t get up-set with our son because He walked out of his job…

As Beth put it – we are all deeply flawed; but though God’s mercy and grace we can be an encouragement to each other as we share our burdens and in our sufferings. Let us together draw close to the cross and let His power be evident to all…

Lord of Heaven and Earth. I know that I am deeply flawed. I want to thank You this morning that Your grace is sufficient for me. Your power is made perfect in my weakness. May the power of Your son, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ rest upon me till the end of my days. In the precious name of Jesus ~ Amen.

Blessings on your day and as always…

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Please visit my dear friend Laurel at Laurel Wreath to read her take on this week’s IOW quote, and the thoughts of other Christian women Bloggers as they are sharing their own thoughts…

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God’s Mission…


“It is insufficient to proclaim that the Church of God has a mission in the world. Rather, the God of mission has a Church in the world.”
~ Tim Dearborn

God wanted all people to spend eternity with Him, so He had to establish a community that would take the message to all nations. God had the ultimate plan; He had the perfect plan. He provided the Sacrifice and a community to take the message to all nations…The message of redemption and reconciliation, for all who believe that Jesus is the One and Only…

It really all started with Peter, didn’t it? Jesus told Peter to feed the sheep…the mission of God was already planted before Jesus ascended to heaven…

‘He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.’ ~ John 21:17 (ESV)

Do you know why I like that Jesus chose Peter as His first missionary? Because Peter was the weakest link! Not only did Peter falter during the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested, but even before that. Remember the story of Peter walking on the water? Peter was only able to reach Jesus as long as he would focus on the Lord. As soon as he took his eyes off, he sank…

Through Peter, God shows us that we as humans can not do anything without the power of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:1-8 we are told how God’s mission/church was established. No human power involved what so ever! All had to wait until the power of the Holy Spirit descended on them.

We have the same power as the early Christians. God gave us, the body of Christ the same mission, to share Christ crucified. The only way to the Father…

‘Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”’ ~ John 14:6 (ESV)

We can either support overseas mission, or we can start in our own backyard to share the Gospel. The body of Christ is growing fast in countries like China, Japan or Korea. What about here in the US or Germany? The numbers of believers in Christ is getting smaller. Other belief systems take the place of Christianity. If the decline continues, we might have to invite believers from Japan or Korea to witness about God’s love.

No matter where we are, which community of believers we belong to. We are part of God’s mission. We are part of His church…

‘Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”’ ~ Matthew 9:37-38 (ESV)

To read Laurel’s and other Godly women’s thoughts on this week’s IOW quote, please visit Laurel’s blog Laurel Wreath…Hope to see you there.

Blessings on your day and as always,

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Dancing for Jesus…

CWO Tuesday Meme

“I long to worship Jesus with the heart of a child, in a state of pure and true adoration. Yet so many things of the world cloud my thoughts and pull on my heart until it’s no longer just a girl in the arms of the Father”
~ Darlene Schacht ~
“The Mom Complex”

When I read the above quote for the first time, the song “ I can only Imagine…” by MercyMe came to mind…I don’t know why, but the lines “Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still? Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?” give me a picture of ‘perfect’ worship…pure and true adoration. When we get to heaven, we will be able to worship without interruptions. Without being smiled upon because we dance for Jesus…

One thing I like to do is, after confession, receiving forgiveness – I like to dance while singing. You ask why? Let me tell you… There is nothing more exciting for me. I am free, because Jesus paid the price for my short-comings. Not that I want to sin, I just do. No matter how good I try to be – I am still sinning. But Jesus knew that I couldn’t keep the law in its entirety. Because of His great love for all of us who trust in Him, He still paid the penalty.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” ~ 1 John 1:9 (NIV)

Do I dance all the time. Actually depends on the ‘service format’. If contemporary – yes — traditional – nope. I am afraid of what my co-worshipers think of me. You see, there is a problem. I let the world influence me — yeah even the Christian world. “You have to be reverend” I am told. If I were a little girl, people would say “How cute”. Since I am a 40-something-woman “I am weird”…

Yes – I would love to be my Heavenly Father’s little girl here on earth when it comes to worship, but I guess I have to wait until heaven…

Lord of Heaven & Earth. Although I might not be dancing in the sanctuary, but You know what my heart is leaping every time I hear the word forgiveness. Lord, sometimes I will still be dancing — no matter what the world around me is thinking. In the precious name of my Lord and Savior ~ Amen…

Blessings on your day and as always…

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If you wrote your own post about this week’s IOW quote, please leave your link, visit other participants and leave comments if possible. If you didn’t write, please still participate in the comment section…Is you heart pulled in all directions so that you don’t feel like God’s little girl anymore?

In “Other” Words Participants

1. Nic
2. Laurel Wreath (corrected Link)
3. Darlene (CWO)
4. amydeanne
5. Elisa
6. Ame
7. A Bee In Her Bonnet
8. God is in Control….Not ME!
9. Kelly
10. Chris
11. Miriam Pauline
12. Healed Waters		 13. Fruit in Season
14. Jennifer
15. Heidi – God\’s Grace in Practice
16. accentuate the positive
17. Tracey- Laced with Grace
18. Debbie
19. Heather Smith
20. Sunydazy
21. Winter
22. Sarah
23. Crystal
24. Cindy Swanson		 25. Allison @ Simple Christian Living
26. Denise
27. Tami @ The Next Step
28. Reaching for the Prize
29. Loni
30. Janean
31. kpjara
32. DKRaymer
33. Michelle at Scribbit
34. Liza’s Eyeview

Learn more about In “Other” Words here.

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Beautiful Feet…

Laurel_Cousin

Laurel’s cousin Michael is on his way to Lativia. Would you please lift him up in your prayers? He is a fellow ‘Arizonian’…Isn’t it wonderful that God is raising up young people to carry His message around the world? Here is what Michael has to say about his mission:

“My role in Lativia will be working with youth and training youth leaders. I will work in local church youth groups, host summer camps, mentor Latvian youth workers, and work for a Latvian youth organization run by J.V. missionaries there.”

You can also visit Michael’s blog and leave him encouraging comments 😛

How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” ~ Isaiah 52:7 (ESV)

Blessings on your day and as always…

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