God is Calling

          I love the way God works! I start praying for my son's basketball team and began listening to what He is telling me to only realize He isn’t talking to me about the basketball team (even though it applies to them also) instead talking to me. I have been asking God for a ministry, a way I can serve and encourage others, a call to do work He has prepared for me to do.

          Everything we do in life is a call of some sort. We think we made the decision to do the things and in some ways we have, in reality God presents us with the opportunity (call) and we either choose to embrace it (joyfully or reluctantly) or we choose to look in another direction for a different path. God calls us to many ministries.

          I use to think becoming a wife and mother was just the next stage in of my life. I now realize it was the call God had placed on me at that time. As a wife I was called to be a help mate to my husband {Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is right for him.” Genesis 2:18} to be there to love, support and encourage him in his work. As a mother I was called to train, love and encourage my children. {Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6}

          So don’t think “I’m in a stage of life & this is what it brings, God isn’t going to use me to minister to others.” You are never too busy to do the Lords work even when what He has called you to do is to love and care for your family. Ask God “Lord, what do you want this stage to look like?” or “How can I bring glory to you?” and be thankful for being right where you are in life because that is exactly where God wants you. {Let the peace that Christ gives control your thinking, because you were all called together in one body to have peace. Always be thankful. Colossians 3:15}

Temple Dwelling

When I was thinking about the start of a new year I started asking myself what I would do different from last year. I don’t make resolutions since most of the time they are meaningless and either I never start it or don’t stick with it for more than a week or so. I like to challenge myself in some way or set a goal, lately though that hasn’t even been enough to get me motivated.

This morning I thought of this verse ~

You should know that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit who is in you. You have received the Holy Spirit from God. So you do not belong to yourselves, because you were bought by God for a price. So honor God with your bodies.                           

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NCV)

What is a temple? I picture something that is pure, clean and beautiful, something inviting and comfortable. If my body is to be a temple to the Holy Spirit it doesn’t fit my description at all. I put a lot of junk in my body that doesn’t make it very pure or clean. Outwardly I try to live a pure, clean life but is that what people see when they look at the health of my body. I don’t have a very beautiful attitude about myself so I’m not very inviting to others. As far as comfortable goes if the Holy Spirit just wants a warm squishy place to dwell he will find it in my rolls.

I do want my body to be a true temple to the Holy Spirit, but that goes further than just my health and the appearance of my body. It includes my attitude toward myself and others, what I put in (relationships, reading, viewing) because what goes in is what will come out.

At first I was going to focus on not eating chocolate for one month, however there is still a lot of chocolate in the house from Christmas & New Year’s celebration and I can’t seem to ignore it. I have ate a lot less of it but it is here taunting me.

So what would I change from last year?

1.    Believe I am beautiful: I’m created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27) God’s is beautiful, loving, gracious, caring God.

2.    I’m not going to focus on my weight as much: I’m going to focus on my health. A piece or two of chocolate occasionally isn’t going to kill me and isn’t going to make God not love me. God doesn’t look at my outward appearance He looks at my heart.

I am going to look at things as how it will affect my “temple” and ask is it pure, clean & beautiful? Is it inviting and comfortable? If so then it belongs in the temple that is for the Holy Spirit to dwell.

 

HaPpY NeW yEaR!!