All in Spiritual Growth
Ladies, don’t you just love the apostle Paul’s flair for the dramatic? In this truly classic letter to his friends in Colosse, he first thanks God for their stellar reputation of faith and love based on eternal hope (Colossians 1:5). He then hits them squarely between the eyes with the enormous challenge of living worthy of the Lord in order to please him in every way.
Yesterday Paul left me contemplating the vice grip of self and the need to put to death—to mortify—my earthly nature. And today, his solution—change my wardrobe? Hmm.
Paul’s prayer for my being filled with the knowledge of God’s will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding (Colossians 1:9) has challenged me, ladies, to read on for the specifics. Paul is not one to leave his readers hanging for long. If he’s noticed a problem, he’s sure to venture a solution.
All dressed up in your virtues? Looking for the perfect place to go to shower love on everyone? Look no further than your daily routines. Wherever you go, you live worthy of the Lord by working at whatever you do with all your heart. Now isn’t that just too simple?
I strained to see them and marveled at their graceful movements among the rocky cliffs of Israel—the Ibex mountain goat. They actually looked like petite antelopes. Visitors to Israel often get to glimpse them springing from rock to rock as they navigate the mountain heights, graceful and confident. One glimpse immediately brings a familiar verse to mind, one you might have seen on wall hangings, plaques or even have in your own home!
After living 30 years in our home, we finally replaced the windows this year! We have some big windows, which sold me on this house with all the natural sunlight. But we never realized how cloudy the old ones were until the new windows were installed.
As I began this year, I prayed to the Lord to show me a word that He wants me to focus on for this year. And He brought to mind the word… Surrender.
For the past two fall seasons, I’ve experienced severely dry eyes. Raw, irritated and red. Most of the time I just want to close them.
Recently, I wondered if there was a “recipe” for transferring head knowledge of God’s word to my heart, where I believe and experience things. Knowledge gets stuck in my head, and then I wonder why there is no growth.
Are you blooming? The day I took this photo, I was sitting outside on the deck having time in the Word and kept looking at this new spring flag on our deck. I loved the vivid colors, but more than that I want to do what this says.
Purifying. Refining.
These are godly words that sound good and they are good… in the end.
But have you been through it?
I have.
Refining can… hurt.
Have you ever listed the women who have most influenced your life? Luke’s list makes me wonder why Mary, Joanna, Susanna and the many others who served Jesus during his life were notable in first century AD. Surely these women suffered. I’m not sure if I could have endured an exorcism administered over Mary to cast out seven demons. Who would have the stamina to serve and live in the household of Herod?
A wedding. A shortage of wine. A need presented to Jesus by His mother, followed by anticipation of an answer. The disciples who accompanied Jesus to the wedding watched His every move. What would He do? What could be done to save this couple from humiliation at the onset of their marriage?
After years of being away, Jacob was headed home with his family and possessions. As he neared Canaan, he was told that Esau was coming toward him with 400 men. Jacob and Esau had not parted on good terms. Was Esau coming for revenge?
I have the heart of a gardener…I guess to serve my need to nurture something. I love to watch something grow and I especially love it when a plant grows big and beautiful after a long, hard winter.
The other day I was taking off my jewelry, and I must have pulled too hard on my ring. It flew off the end of my finger when I pulled it over my knuckle. I heard it hit the carpet. I immediately got on my hands and knees to look for my ring. I must have looked for 20 minutes before I decided to stop and try again later. After looking later, I still could not find my ring. I knew it was there, and I also knew that I would find it with continued searching.
It is officially spring. The weather and the calendar agree. I am starting to see birds making nests, flowers budding out, and green grass peeking through. Spring marks the beginning of baseball season. One of my favorite things to do is watch my two kids play ball. Of course I’m a fan of these two!
I watched my husband and our daughter paddle out into the surf in a kayak. They moved through the water to look at the array of fish under them. At times they stopped paddling, but they did not stop moving. Sometimes they drifted further away from where they wanted to go. It required intentional effort to move in the right direction. To go where they wanted to go, they had to pursue it. Just drifting was not going to be enough.
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him? (Psalm 8:3,4)
