Friday, July 13, 2007

A Surrendered Life

I was very convicted by this blog from a friend of mine (Jane) who shares her blog with her husband (Mike). Their blog is called a surrendered life, and every time I read it God refreshes me (or convicts me) with a word from Him. I really blew it here recently at a family gathering (families have a way of doing that) :-) , and when I read this I realized it began in my mind... in my thoughts.

Here is a short excerpt from that blog:

Proverbs 23:7-19
Leaders understand the importance of their minds to the future of their organizations. Consider some of the timeless principles offered in Proverbs 23 about our minds and a godly vision for tomorrow:
1. Your thoughts determine your character (v. 7)
2. Be careful of your thoughts; they may break into words at any time (v. 7)
3. Don't waste your thoughts on those who don't hunger for them (v. 9)
4. The first person you lead is you, and the first organ you master is your mind (v. 12)
5. Don't let your mind drift away from God's truth and into vain envy (v. 17)
6. Stay confident that your vision will come to pass (v. 18)
7. Discipline your thoughts to remain steadfast in what you know is right (v. 19)

I then read today's daily devotional from Harvest Online and God continued to gently convict and teach me.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Hebrews 12:1–2

Holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom once said, "Look within and be depressed. Look without and be distressed. Look at Jesus and be at rest." Looking without, she had reason to be distressed. She lived in a concentration camp. She saw her sister and father die. She saw others die. Looking within, she felt depressed as she saw the darkness of her own heart. But seeing the example of her godly sister Betsy, who saw the bright side of everything and was always trusting God, she concluded, "Look at Jesus and be at rest."

Hebrews 12:1–2 urges us to "lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith."

As we walk with God, people will let us down. People will disappoint us. Circumstances will be hard. The enemy will hassle us. This is when we need to remember why we started to walk with God in the first place. It was because of Jesus. So keep your eyes fixed on Him. That will keep you moving forward, because the only way we will make it as Christians is by keeping our eyes on Jesus Christ.

Thank you God for showing these things to me, You are so kind in your rebuke; much more so than I am with those who hurt me. And thank you Jane for sharing from your heart. And even though I have only known you a short time, and we hardly ever see each other, you have affected my life in ways you don't even know. I truly love you and your family.

2 comments:

Amanda said...

This is great! I have been runnuing all week and really haven't had much time to slow down, until now. Thanks for the awesome blog.

Figueras Life said...

u have no idea how the witcher blogs minister to my life. i've understood that although some may have a more visible role in ministry, we're all called to be leaders. whether it's in our home, careers, etc. God places that in our hearts because He wants us to march to the beat of His drum & we need to be leaders to those around us. that's why i think that study is so relevant to everyone of us in our daily walk.

we've really got to talk. i completely forgot to mention to you when i saw you sunday that my son, matt, has a friend whose dad has to travel to paris once a month for business. he works for an IT company (computers or something like that) in rtp. anyway, i'm wondering now what exactly God has planned. funny how He connects us to each other in the most random of ways (well, random to us, but certainly not to Him).

wish ur hubby a happy belated b-day from our family. i'll post a note on his blog, too. if i would've known on sunday, we could've made a HUGE deal :-)

in Him,
jane