This year I am going through My Utmost For His Highest, by Oswald Chambers and the lesson for the other day was on intimacy with Jesus or knowing Him. So I started to ask myself, “Do I really know Him?” Sometimes I think I do, but many times I feel like I don’t even though I deeply desire to really know Him. There have been some rough patches and difficult things in my walk with the Lord, as happens with everyone at some point, but I have decided to make a change and work on following hard after Him.
I want the impact that I leave on the people I minister to and with this year to not be of me, but to be of Jesus. I want to truly bear fruit here and not just meander along doing just want needs to be done. Chambers states, “Fruit bearing is always mentioned as the manifestation of an intimate union with Jesus Christ,” he also says, “The saint who is intimate with Jesus will never leave impressions of himself, but only the impression that Jesus is having unhindered way, because the last abyss of his nature has been satisfied by Jesus.”
I want to Know Him and leave His impression on the places and the people I minister to. That is my prayer for this semester as I work with the students at Berea College, the people that come through the Gilmin Home, and the many other paths that I cross in day to day life. I would love some encouragement and help on this journey of learning and getting to Know my Lord and Savior better.
There are so many things at this very moment I could write about and hopefully I will have some extra time to write later, but until then, here is a short post on my awesome morning so far!
I woke up this morning with my sweet puppy jumping all over me. I took her outside and then I took a shower. After getting ready I fixed a yummy breakfast of a banana and blackberries with cool whip mixed in, which I took with me to my room to work on while doing my bible study quite time. I turned on Pandora, sat on my bed, and jumped into my time with the Lord while Baylie curled up next to me.
First I opened up the book I am going through with my mentor that is all about the names of God. It is called “Lord, I Want to Know You” and was written by Kay Arthur. It is AMAZING. This morning I did the first day in a middle of the book recap that is about teaching inductive bible study. I read through Exodus 17 and was deeply reminded of how the Lord provides for us in many ways and in His timing. Jehovah-jireh provides for us! How awesome is that!!
After finishing this book, I opened up a new study that I started today by Beth Moore. It is “James, Mercy Triumphs.” In the first lesson, it was all about learning about James’ family aka Jesus’ family. She brought out verses that I tend to ignore from the gospels about the people in Jesus & James’ family and what they did. She examined what life probably looked like back then. I can’t imagine living the way they did, but it was very humbling and such a blessing to me.
While I was studying, the song, “Your Love is Strong,” by Jon Foreman played on Pandora and I had to take a moment to just reflect on what he was singing. It is such a powerful song and I don’t think I had ever heard it before, but the Lord really used it to speak to me in what is a difficult time in my life. Here are they lyrics and a link to the song on YouTube.
Heavenly Father You always amaze me Let your kingdom come In my world and in my life You give me the food I need To live through the day And forgive me as I forgive The people that wronged me Lead me far from temptation Deliver me from the evil one
I look out the window The birds are composing Not a note is out of tune Or out of place I look at the meadow And stare at the flowers Better dressed than any girl On her wedding day
So why do I worry? Why do I freak out? God knows what I need You know what I need
Chorus (3x): Your love is Your love is Your love is strong
The kingdom of the heavens Is now advancing Invade my heart Invade this broken town The kingdom of the heavens Is buried treasure Will you sell yourself To buy the one you’ve found?
Two things you told me That you are strong And you love me Yes, you love me
(Chorus 3x)
Our God in heaven Hallowed be Thy name above all names Your kingdom come Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven Give us today our daily bread Forgive us wicked sinners Lead us far away from our vices And deliver us from these prisons
All in all this morning was just a great morning spent with the Lord and one that was much needed in my life at this moment. Things are difficult in several areas of my life right now and I very much needed this time to focus on Him!
Living Life 