Ah, yes self-control. What a great fruit of the Spirit. I have to admit, some days I truly lack it. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t yell or start swearing. No, I shut down. Have you ever shut down? No talking, just moping around? I think it is just as bad as yelling or swearing. You know why? Because we are in ‘control’ of the situation and not God. Beth asked on day one to paraphrase Proverbs 25:28. My personal paraphrase: ‘If I don’t have the protection of the Holy Spirit, I am a good target for the enemy.’
You know, we are so vulnerable when we let our guard down and don’t trust in the promise of God that we will go with us every step of the way. Yes, I have let down my guard several times this past week. At work and in my personal life and the enemy used it to ‘raise havoc’. God gives us help in raising the walls again that the enemy has broken down. He has given us the Holy Spirit and coworkers in His kingdom. I have had the protection of my sisters in Christ to raise my walls again. Isn’t that awesome? There is nothing better to know that in distress we are surrounded my saints that will lift us up in prayers.
You know which Scripture passage I really liked on day two? Galatians 6:7-8. Sometimes I am surprised to find little nuggets like this. Why is that sometimes we read Scripture over and over and than all of a sudden they just pop of the page? Ah, yes, God doesn’t reveal the meaning of a passage until the moment when we need to understand it…Yeah, I was a rebel like Samson and still am at times (but not to that extreme). The years I refused to walk with God, the times I disobeyed my parents. Today, I ignore His voice in situations when I shouldn’t ignore it. I don’t listen to my husband, when I should or my Godly friends. You know the bad thing about not listening to the good things, is that I grieve the Holy Spirit…I liked the difference between Daniel and Samson. Samson fell because of his self-indulgence and Daniel was lifted up, because he listen the voice of God to stay pure. Shouldn’t we all stay pure – feeding on His Word? I have said it so often; if I don’t take my time in the morning for devotion and a verse I can meditate on all day (surprisingly God always gives me one I would need for the day), my day just unravels in front of me and I loose control.
And then there is Solomon with all the riches of this world. His conclusion to it all: meaningless. It is so true. We all long for something that makes us “happy”, but most of the time it truly is just for a short period. A new TV, a new car, a new monitor (although I do enjoy my new monitor very much – easier on those old eyes of mine :smile:). I am guilty of ‘hoarding’ money – honestly I do. For what? I don’t know. I guess I am afraid of running out of it?…When I read Ecclesiastes 5:15,I smiled. It reminded me of my dad. It must have been his favorite Bible verse, because he recited it all.the.time. You know what though – I am content with my life and life-style. Yes, we don’t have much to ‘show’. Others have nicer houses (but also bigger that need more cleaning and up-keep in general). Others have bigger and faster cars (hey – I enjoy my little Scion XB). But to tell you the truth – I don’t care. I do have one major weakness – I confess. I enjoy traveling. And the time we spend in San Carlos is the best time in the year. There I can just enjoy God’s awesome creation, its beauty; and I enjoy my relationship with my hubby. Kind of funny that every time we plan our trip, we have the extra money…So maybe my ‘hoarding’ over the rest of the year is not that bad after all. Or is it?
Ha – regarding the food issue Beth talked about…I really need to get a handle on that part of my life. I don’t eat right. Matter of fact, I skip meals all the time. I need to eat more nutritional foods, like fresh fruit and veggies. Once in a while I get in a good habit off eating right – like on vacation. I eat three meals, I eat good foods. During the rest of the year, I eat granola bars or junk food, because I don’t seem to have the time to eat. That is really a dumb – I know…
There are still so many areas in my life I need to let God take over. But all this can only be done if I let the Holy Spirit control every bit of it. As Beth pointed us to Mark 1:35:
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
Jesus is our example of a spirit-filled life – so should we take the morning hours to pour out and take in His Spirit to guide us through the day and its challenges. I want to abound in His presents for the rest of my days…and praise His holy name every single day.
I have learned and re-learned so many things over the last 10 weeks and God pointed out some things I have missed the first time around. I was blessed by my sisters in faith who participated in this study; reading their thoughts on a weekly basis. I am going to miss it! But I do know that I will visit your Blogs – if you like it or not :grin:.
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| Addie | Heather* | Carol |
| M | Rach | Jeana |
| Jenn | Amanda | MamaB |
| GiBee | Boomama | Maria |
| Blair | Heather | Nancy |
| Janna | Flipflop | Robin |
| Sherry | Patricia | Tara |
| Lauren | HolyMama! | Faith |
| Christy | Eph2810 | Karin |
| Leann | Rachel | Janice |
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May God bless you richly from the hearing of His Word. |
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Just wanted to let you know I’m praying for and thinking of your sister. Having experienced first hand the pain of divorce, I know the road that lies before her. I pray that God grant her the strength and wisdom she needs in the upcoming days and months.
Your Sister In Christ,
I need to do what you said – have one verse each ay to meditate on. I don’t do that lately. I need to start that again – thanks for the reminder.
Great summary and insights as usual Iris – thanks! 🙂
Oh – and I will still be visiting you too whether or not you like it! LOL
I hope to do another study again – I loved this one!
Congratulations on finishing the study, Iris. You’ve been such a voice of encouragement to me as you’ve shared your faith through your posts here and your comments to all of us! 🙂 I wasn’t able to finish all the lessons, but I’ve helped to convince our preschool mom group to study LBY this fall. So I’ll get to do it again — in person. I think God wants to make sure I learn these lessons — and bear more of His fruit in my life. Thanks again for all of your insight!
I was reading this week, a book written by Ester Burroughs. She was very active in WMU, Womens Missionary Union. I have had the book for many years, and tried to read it before, but I guess it wasn’t time. As I read this week, I thought “Why did I not get this before?” She was speaking of the HOLY SPIRIT and how she came to the discovery of how she needed to pray that she would be “clothed” by the HOLY SPIRIT daily. Sometime I forget that the HOLY SPIRIT is inside me. I love the new song by Mercy Me “So Long Self”. We need to be in the frame of mind that we are nothing without GOD and listen to the Spirit guide us in “EVERYTHING”. I am not all the way there yet, but I do strive to get stronger in the attitude daily. I really loved the LBY study, and am continuing to grow even though it has been a couple months since I finished the study. As our pastor said recently we need to stay teachable.
YSIC
Hey Iris! Now that it is all over I want to thank you yet AGAIN for the wonderful gift I have received. I have been having a lot of trouble with self-control lately. My biggest problem right now is trying NOT to make everyone feel that they are so great. I know we are supposed to glorify God and I do, but it is so hard to not give my wonderful new friends just as much credit. I’m so sorry for making such a big deal out of it. Remember this is all so new to me and I still have a lot to learn.
I really messed up today. I was very mean to someone and I acted just like those old Christians that I never wanted to be like. You know, the hypocrites, the graceless ones. The ones full of anger and conceit. Well that’s who I have been today and I feel terrible for it. I don’t know why I’m pouring this all out right here, I guess I feel terrible about it and it is on my mind and I feel the need to confess it outloud. I did it all in His name too. Oh man. I’m going to blog about this now. So sorry to ramble here in your comments section.
By the way, remember when I told you I’d be in Pheonix tomorrow? Well, I still will be. I’m flying out there to drive my good friend back as she’s moving out here to CA. I’ll be there tomorrow and we’ll be driving back on Thursday.
I left my number in an email I sent out to the LBY group and you are more than welcome to call me. So, if you don’t get a chance to email me or if you do and I don’t seem to be getting back to you (because I have my computer shut down or I’m cooking or something) please call me!