All in Spiritual Growth
Have you ever noticed how God speaks in multiple ways when He is trying to get a point across to us? Often when I read scripture and God reveals a new truth, or reminds me of something He previously revealed and I have ignored, I begin to see the same truth in other ways.
Does anyone else have as hard a time memorizing scripture as I do? I participate in a Bible study which encourages scripture memory, but I have found it so difficult to actually do. I decided to get serious about it with Ephesians 5:1-2.
My ten-year-old loves playing the game Battleship with her dad. They both have quite different approaches to trying and mastering the game.
My daddy’s hands were also the biggest and the safest hands to be wrapped up in. When I needed protection, his muscular hands were my help. When I needed comfort, his gentle hands would wrap me tightly and hold me close.
Strong and courageous are two words I would not normally use to describe myself. As a little girl, I was afraid of many things. My mind would wander immediately to “what ifs” of a certain situation, and then fear would creep in.
One particularly cool spring morning, I had decided that I was going to walk around the
neighborhood and catch up on reading my emails in the process. I thought I was being wise with my multi-tasking skills until I found myself down on the ground.
As I was helping my husband mow the grass one humid spring morning, I noticed how the weeds were suddenly sprouting up and overtaking our grass. As I was moving right along with my mowing, I also noticed how many different types of weeds there were in my yard.
“Well, what did He say? What did He say your name was? Tell me, tell me, tell me!”
“He said my name would be ‘elephant’.”
What is the image of God? Because God is Spirit, we know that it is not a physical likeness. Because He created both male and female with this image, it is not confined to a gender likeness.
Today, I write from a place of raw emotion. How is it sometimes the people closest to you wound you the most? If God created us for relationships, why are they so hard? At times, friendships prove challenging. Sometimes, family trumps the charts in difficulty.
It was our regular Thursday after-school special with the youngest grand girls. When our time was over their dad pulled up in the driveway. As our nine-year old gathered up her backpack and rushed out the door to get in his car, she called back over her shoulder, “I want to learn to bake a cherry pie.”
Do you know someone who doesn’t know how to listen? I became acquainted with a kind man who worked at a grocery store I frequented. Every time he saw me, he would stop what he was doing and head my way.
I have friends who like to scuba dive. They put on their equipment and plunge into a different world under the sea. The sea isn’t an environment suited to man naturally. However, with the right equipment, it is possible to breathe and explore fascinating things God has created.
Ah, January—I love Januarys. Januarys beckon me to step back and consider the old year. I transpose my Canadian memories of crisp snowfalls to cover the muddy paths I’ve been over. I cry to the Lord: wash me, and I will be whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7). But then Januarys urge me on to chase the new with vigor: Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me (Psalm 51:10).
Is cross-country skiing on your bucket list by chance? Then the perfect place for you is in Stowe Vermont at the Trapp Family Lodge—yes, the Sound of Music von Trapps settled in Stowe in 1942, having fled Austria in 1938.
My father ranched when the TV weather report and a swirling wind gauge helped him plan his work days. The metal arrow on our wind gauge always pointed in the direction of the source of the wind. That was the only arrow in my life before discovering King Solomon’s analogy comparing children to arrows in the hand of a warrior (Psa. 127:4 NIV). I’d never considered my own life analogous to an arrow until recently. Oswald Chambers used the analogy to describe something most believers have experienced but, possibly, failed to understand:
The human brain fascinates me. I observed its development as my babies learned to talk, walk and eventually drive away. Oswald Chambers' quote recently challenged me to consider the brain from a new perspective:
“God does not give us the mind of Christ. He gives us the Spirit of Christ, and we have to see that the Spirit of Christ in us works through our brains in contact with actual life and that we form His mind.” *
Baby steps are so cute!
Little pudgy feet, wobbly, trying to move forward… step by step.
But think about spiritual steps… of the baby… of the mature.
As I think about what mine looks like, what about you?
Am I growing?
This is a good question to ask yourself.
Just like a flower growing up tall in the bright sunshine… in Jesus I grow too.
But are you?
