Paul's Example

Since we finished our No Other gods study two weeks ago, I was excited to finish reading the letters of Paul that I had not yet read. I finished 2 Timothy today, his final letter. Paul's life has been such an encouragement to me. How could he not be an encouragement to a believer? Here is a man who endured so much hardship for the sake of the Gospel yet continued to "run the race," knowing God would be his help and trusting the Lord with his whole life. 

Although Paul's letters are all very encouraging and full of instruction that we as believers are to follow, I think his charge to Timothy in 2 Tim. 4:1-2 (and God's charge to us) pretty much sums up the cause for our life as believers: "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and His kingdon, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction." It is clear that only God can help us do this. We cannot be effective for Him unless we fully rely on Him to speak through us. This made me question: where, how, when am I preaching the Word? God has given me ministry opportunities to share His Word with children, such a high privilege and calling! I am also called to testify to Zooey, something that somehow seems to get pushed aside some days when busy-ness and tantrums and impatience take over. I am called to preach to everyone I know. May my life and words be a testament to YOU, Jesus!

The other thing that stands out to me in this chapter is verses 6-8: "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing." Paul knew he was going to die soon. Whenever I read this, I think to myself and pray, "God, I want that to be me on my death bed. I want to be so full of passion for You that it doesn't fade for one day of my life here on earth. I want to be so consumed with telling others about You and praising You that I am still doing it with my dying breath as I cross over into life everlasting." That is how I want to live my life. I want Jesus to be the center and my love for Him to shine through every action I take.

30 Day Journey, Days 12-27

I know I've been a little silent on this journey. However, that definitely doesn't mean God hasn't been working. As I wrapped up my final day in my "No Other gods" study by Kelly Minter, God really made it clear to me what He's been doing in the last 27 days. When I began this study eight weeks ago, I didn't put down entertainment as one of my idols. I felt that I spent a relatively small amount of time sitting in front of the TV or reading or whatever. The last two days we spent time in the book of Ruth. In Ruth, we see God's provision and His timing. The future probably looked pretty bleak to Ruth as she set out from Moab with Naomi to Judah. Her husband had died, she had no children, there was no man to provide for them (big deal in those days), she was leaving her family & friends and her gods. She was commited to helping Naomi, though, and she went. Just so happens, on her first day in the barley field, Boaz showed up and went beyond his duty to help her and her family and had the workers leave extra barley behind for her to pick up. At the end of the book, Naomi is able to have an heir through Ruth & Boaz's baby, Obed. Blessed beyond belief! This is surely not what Naomi & Ruth thought they had ahead of them as they left Moab. God did that, and He continues to do this today. He clicks the pieces of the puzzles we call life together to form a beautiful picture of His grace and provision. I was taken aback by Him this morning, as I realized how perfect His timing was in asking me to do this 30 day journey of purity. Maybe I didn't spend much time on entertainment  (because what Mom has time for that, am I right?!), but I was using it as a coping skill, like I've talked about before.  I would stay up reading, because I didn't want to think about my problems. When we did watch TV at night, Ryan & I weren't spending real quality time together. Personally,  some shows and books were desensitizing me to what God's Word calls sin. This all clicked this morning. By setting aside entertainment, I've been able to grieve the anniversary of my mom's death by turning to God. He has brought healing through my tears and through the moments where I am awake at 3:00am and all I can think about is her, so I turn to Him and pray. He has brought me and Ryan closer through card games and conversation and real quality time. He has enabled me to be bold in my beliefs and what He's called me to do and to care less what others think about my choices. God's timing is perfect. I realized today that time spent isn't necessarily the only clue that something is an idol in our lives, and God showed me how removing it and making room for Him has blessed me abundantly - even in this short month! How good and amazing and wonderful is He!