CONVERSATIONS SPRINKLED WITH GRACE                          Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt,so that you may know how to answer everyone.  Colossians 4:5-7 (NIV)

My beloved and I went to see The War Room.  What a phenomenal movie, and what an inspiration !  I have had some Miss Clara's in my life, and I have been Miss Clara a few times, but I echo her prayer, "Lord, send me another one."  I echo her prayer, "Oh, Lord, raise up an army of prayer warriors"  You might be wondering why there is a sword at the top of the page,  I will refer you to Ephesians 6:17 

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the  Spirit, which is the word of God.

That is what Miss Clara taught, to use the Sword of the Spirit effectively in prayer. 

 

We do live our lives, day to day, sometimes forgetting that we are in the middle of a war.  Maybe no one has ever told us that we are, or maybe our life is comfortable, so we become blind to the war that surrounds us.  Nevertheless, the war is real!

I want to give you a chunk of Scripture today, to kind of set the stage for some following posts.  It is from the Phillips translation of the New Testament (one of the first "modern" translations.  Please read it and think about it in terms of your personal life, the life of your community, the life of your church, and life of our nation.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (PHILLIPS)

We are not merely human agents but God-appointed ministers

10 1-6 Now I am going to appeal to you personally, by the gentleness and sympathy of Christ himself. Yes, I, Paul, the one who is “humble enough in our presence but outspoken when away from us”, and begging you to make it unnecessary for me to be outspoken and stern in your presence. For I am afraid otherwise that I shall have to do some plain speaking to those of you who will persist in reckoning that our activities are on the purely human level. The truth is that, although of course we lead normal human lives, the battle we are fighting is on the spiritual level. The very weapons we use are not those of human warfare but powerful in God’s warfare for the destruction of the enemy’s strongholds. Our battle is to bring down every deceptive fantasy and every imposing defence that men erect against the true knowledge of God. We even fight to capture every thought until it acknowledges the authority of Christ. Once we are sure of your obedience we shall not shrink from dealing with those who refuse to obey.

CONVERSATIONS SPRINKLED WITH GRACE                          Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt,so that you may know how to answer everyone.  Colossians 4:5-7 (NIV)

I have known all week that I wanted to write about September 11th.  I watched a video of that planes hitting the towers with a class at the Rockingham County Literacy Project.  It brought back a lot of grief; for the victims, for the first responders and for our nation.  In 2001, I was teaching at an elementary school in Michigan.  The school day was just beginning.  A hush fell amidst the early morning chatter of the staff, as we saw the first plane hit.  Meanwhile students were entering the classroom, so we began our day as calmly as we could.  The phones began ringing as parents wanted to come and get their children.  It was totally surreal to perform a job in a normal fashion on such an abnormal day.  I know this is a generational marker for my children; "Where were you on September 11, 2001?"  just as President Kennedy's assassination is a marker for mine.

On that evening there were prayer meetings being held all over the city.  It was wonderful to see people come together to pray for our nation, to pray for the first responders and to pray for all of the families affected by the attack.  There was a renewed need for Someone larger than ourselves.  There was a realization that America was not impermeable, and we needed Someone to keep us safe.

I want to share a prophetic vision that was given to a wonderful woman of God that I know (Miss PH).  God gave her a vision of a cross rising from the ruins of the towers, but as the cross rose up, it became obscured by the American flag.  At that time, my hope was that there would be revival in the United States.  However, as time went on what I saw was a wave of nationalism overtaking our nation's desire for God.

The picture above is a picture of the steel cross that was found in the ruins of Ground Zero.  Many went to that cross as they worked to clean up the carnage.  May we continue to go to that cross always.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.  Psalm 33:12

CONVERSATIONS SPRINKLED WITH GRACE                     Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt,so that you may know how to answer everyone.  Colossians 4:5-7 (NIV)

Light

I have been thinking about light the past few days. Fall is my favorite time of year.  I love the color and the weather but most of all, I love the light!  It is Labor Day, so I may be rushing things, but I can hardly wait to turn the air off, open the windows and enjoy the light.  I enjoy the light of the sun, and the light of the Son.

Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.

I was once in darkness, but now I am light in the Lord!  How awesome is that!  To be light, to illuminate the path, to allow sight, to warm, to beautify!  It makes me dance to even think of it! What glorious God we serve, that he would take us out of darkness and translate us to light in Him.

Before I came to know Jesus as the Lord and Saviour of my life, I walked in my own light.  It was kind of like a spot light, all about me, dark around the edges, so that anything outside that small circle of light was not very visible.  I was so busy taking care of me and protecting me, that there wasn't much room for others, even those who loved me.  I am so grateful to have  life in Jesus, in the Light of the World (John 8:12).  Because of His light I know that He takes care of me, that He protects me and most importantly, I see the people around me.  I see their love and their lives, as they share their light with me.

1 John 1:7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Conversations Sprinkled With Grace

 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt,so that you may know how to answer everyone.  Colossians 4:5-7 (NIV)

I am so excited to be writing this today!  I have been soaking this in prayer for a long time.  Recently, I have felt an urgency to sit down and actually write!  

I love conversations that have depth, that are transparent, that include a little humor.  My goal for this blog is to have at least a two way conversation about things that matter to me and to you.  Things that matter to me are first and foremost God, and His Kingdom.  The field that God has released me  into is particularly women of God.  I want to share what God is doing in my life, and hear what He is doing in yours.  I want to hear about what you have been reading, and what it speaks to your spirit, and I want to share what I am reading and what it is speaking to me.  I want to talk about what is happening in the world from a Christian worldview.  I want this blog to encourage you, build your faith, give you hope and see yourself in the larger picture.

Let me tell you a little about myself.  I am "older".  I have been married a long time (but not as long as some of you)! I have four children, all grown up now, and 1 beautiful daughter in law.  I have two furry friends.  I teach adults literacy skills at all levels and I train tutors.  I work in a local grocery store two days a week.  I am  passionate about intercessory prayer.  My life abounds!  Because of that, this will not be a daily blog, but perhaps two days per week.

I am not perfect in any of the roles I fill, but I have a God who forgives me, and gives me new grace every minute of every day.  I am only different from you in that God gave me this passion to encourage and this venue to use.

Today, I want to share a prayer I found in a little prayer book, it reflects my heart and was written by Jack Watts, an American author:

Father,

 Allow me to serve others with a joyful heart;

Never keeping score;

Always giving;

Never expecting to receive.

Allow me to give of myself,

To give of my talents and my good,

To give of my time and energy,

To give of my heart and of my soul.  

Help me to understand the needs of others,

Never criticizing,

Never demeaning,

Never scolding

Never condemning.

You have been so gracious to me,

Always loving,

Always forgiving,

Always restoring;

Never gloating over my defeats

Even when I have been so wrong.

Father, keep a condemning spirit

Far from my heart and further from my lips,

Allow me serve others a s You serve,

with gentleness, compassion and tenderness,

Never diminishing the worth of another,

Choosing to extend mercy to the brokenhearted, 

Like you have repeatedly shown it to me.

Amen