Skip to main content

God's Working on Me...

I started Becoming a Woman of Purpose this week (my own purchase) and I came across this quote this morning that I just wanted to share in hopes that it might encourage others the way it did me...

from p. 24

"...I'm not a real baby person!  I think that God looked at me and said, "If I am ever going to begin to get any fruit of the Spirit into this woman, she needs to have all these children at once!" What better way for me to learn patience, self-control, gentleness, kindness, love, joy, faithfulness, and goodness.  (Notice I didn't mention peace.)  It was in the midst of these child-raising years that I realized my great need to fully surrender my life to God and allow Him to begin to transform my life according to His plan.
     This is what God is after--as our Father, He wants us to have a strong family resemblance to Him.  He uses all sorts of ways to mold us and to bring us to dependence upon Him.  For some, this sanctifying process may involve not having children, not being married.  For others it is marriage, children, parents, and jobs that God will use to conform us to the image of Christ."

I love Cynthia Heald's honesty in her studies.  I thought this quote encapsulated sanctification and what it means. Later she says...  "In the process of sanctification, the Spirit of God will strip me down until there is nothing left but myslef, and that is the place of death...Am I willing and determined to hand over my simple naked self to God?" p. 24

As I honestly answered the question afterwards, I realize that I have been turning to the world--whether it be the computer or video to avoid the emptiness that I feel when I am absolutely worn out from caring for my family and those around me.  And yet, this is exactly where God wants me.  Stripped down and empty.  All I have left is Him.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grieved

Why is it that my generation (I belong to Gen X) and generations after us always seem to think that they know more than the generations that have come before us? Why is there such a lack of respect in our generation for our elders? Why do we think that the liturgy of the church and hymns are irrelevant? It is ironic to me that the emergent movement is saying that the seeker sensitive movement is irrelevant. It seems as if it was only a few years ago when it was the seeker sensitive movement that said to the traditional church that it (the traditional church) was irrelevant. I'm reading a book with all of these big words and I want to be honest--I didn't understand a lot of it. I'm not dumb. I understood most of it, but the author was assuming a lot of background knowledge on the part of the reader. Most of the time I learn deep theological concepts and then I have to store them in my "attic" (as Autumn would say) because there isn't enough room in the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Missing Pieces

The other day I was discussing a book with my mom and explaining to her my concern about how "blame" is cast upon the child in the story.  My mom commented about how deeply I read and consider what is written. Sometimes I wonder if I go overboard.  Am I questioning too much?  Am I overreacting? Why am I reacting this way? I come back to knowing that God wired me this way.  But, I also reflect on how God has guided my path through the maze of books I've read over the past few years and what I've learned from the books themselves and from reading them.   Recently, I read a book that troubled me.  The book I finished reading was  Guiltless Living  by Ginger Hubbard.  When I began reading it, I found myself puzzled and then disconcerted. And in the end, I cried. But, I cried for a different reason than one might suspect. I'd like to explain. I did not read Ms. Hubbard's previous book “ Don't Make Me Count to Three ”, but I knew from f...
Post a Comment
Read more

ESV, NIV, or NASB and then there's the ICB, ESV or NIrV...which should we read?

I am so thankful for my friend's question about the ESV vs. NASB and NIV. I couldn't remember the difference so I went to look it up. I knew that John Piper and Tim Keller, both pastors and authors that I deeply respect have switched over to the ESV. All of the churches that we have attended over the past few years PCA or Reformed Baptist have also switched to the ESV. I did find a blog that explained the differences and that helped me ( http://thefoolishgalatian.wordpress.com/2007/10/22/niv-vs-esv-and-why-piper-switched/ ) I knew why I didn't like the KJV--it was written in the days when writers were paid by a patron and that often slanted the translation. The NKJV, from what I understand, is a revision of the KJV that uses more modern language. Most churches I have attended used the NIV until the ESV came out. The blog I found explained that the ESV is a more literal translation---like the NASB. The NASB is a very literal translation. The ESV has come to be consid...
Post a Comment
Read more