So....I should be studying for the 3 big tests I have coming up this week but I wanted to share this with you all so I'm taking a break from studying and investing some time with the Lord and with all of my set-apart brothers and sisters!!! These are some verses that have made me really think and pray over the past couple weeks so I hope you can be pulled a little tighter into the arms of our heavenly father through them just like I was.
"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever: forsake not the works of thine own hands" Psalm 138:8
This verse I read a couple days ago when I was feeling particularly tired in the morning (I think Thursday) and it was so perfect. Annie had actually read this exact verse to me in Colorado when she prayed with me about God directing my life when I went home to PA. Annie told me that God WILL NOT forsake the work of His own hands that He has started in each of us. And not only will He not forsake the work but He will PERFECT it! Its so wonderful to know that God's plan for our lives is not just half figured out, or that it has holes to be filled in later or that it is only a good plan....but God's plan is COMPLETE, it is made with His own hands, and it is PERFECT!
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Galations 6:9-10
It is easy for me to gravitate towards the feeling that God only truly uses his people in 3rd world countries where everyone is poor, sick, and orphaned. It is easy for me to feel like everyone in my town knows about God (I live in the middle of Amish country...where knowing about God and the Bible is as common as knowing about movies and town gossip) I know God has asked me and all of you to live extraordinary lives in His name. I don't know if it is because of how I was raised or the mentality of my church, but to me I automatically feel like I must become a missionary to live an extraoridinary life. But, God treasures his people wherever they are. God loves His church...His church in Africa, His church in Europe, His church in Pennsylvania. God wants to use us to do good unto His people right here around us for as long as we are here. This verse left me feeling like I need to take the effort to find where there is need within my own church! We must look outward! And looking outward doesn't mean thousands of miles away. It means my family, it means my brothers and sisters in Christ at my home church, it means anyone I meet.
"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:58
The first thing that came to my mind when I read this verse was when we might confront someone who wants to water down the Word of God. Let this be an encouragement for you to stand firm with the conviction that God has placed on your heart for the His truth to be spoken without being watered down by humans. The other thing this verse made me think of is all the time we spend on vain things. EVERYTHING we do here on Earth that is not for the Lord's glory and for His kingdom is done in vain because it will not last. Why would we want to do anything when its actually a waste of our time and energy? I wouldn't make my bed when I know I was going to bed in 5 minutes, but yet we spend so much time setting up our lives here on Earth so they are comfortable but in a blink of an eye we will be leaving it all behind!
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4 comments:
Sarah, what an encouragement! God has filled scripture with so many powerful comforts! Thank you for this!
grace keep you
~Josh (Fork)
Sarah,
When I opened up the blog just now and read what you wrote, I could not believe my eyes. In fact, my jaw literally dropped! The Lord gave me that exact same verse - Psalm 138:8 - about 3 weeks ago when I was struggling to figure out His will for my future.
I was out of town at a conference for work, and had been spending the evenings in my hotel room just talking to the Lord and enjoying unhindered quiet time away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. He spoke the verse quietly to my heart, but I never could find where the verse was located in Scripture until I got back home and pulled out my Strong's Concordance. Psalm 138:8. I had heard the verse before but never knew where it was found until then. Well, in the past 3 weeks the Lord has continuously put that verse before me in various ways as a reminder that He is in the process of doing something wonderful in my life.
Since coming home from Colorado and dropping out of my MBA program, I have begun to feel more and more out of place in the corporate world. The last thing you said in your post stated it so perfectly: "EVERYTHING we do here on Earth that is not for the Lord's glory and for His kingdom is done in vain because it will not last." How true this statement is!
I feel like the Lord is beginning to prepare me for some other form of service, but right now I'm not sure what it is. I'm just keeping my eyes and ears open for what the Lord will do. I kept thinking about putting up a post with that verse on it, but I was not quick enough and the Lord used you to do it instead. Thank you so much for sharing your heart and the things the Lord has been speaking to you about. What an encouragement you've been to me!
Miss you, sister!
Michelle
Sarah, thank you. More like Jesus, THANK YOU!! :-) Boy, did I need that reminder.
"We must look outward! And looking outward doesn't mean thousands of miles away. It means my family, it means my brothers and sisters in Christ at my home church, it means anyone I meet."
This is what the Lord has been pushing me so heavily into. I mean, getting home from Urbana, the focus is GLOBAL. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but the mindset was "So, when are you leaving?" For many of us, it may not be about leaving, but rather staying... and being willing to be used where God has put us, instead of trying to convince the Lord we'd be more effective elsewhere. HE KNOWS! And He's showing me the incredible mission field right here where I'm at... seriously, it's HUGE. And it's an area He wants me not to just brush off, but actually get involved, and allow my heart to get involved and feel what HE feels for THESE people and THIS area. I'm trying to wrap my mind around it... because it's TRUTH, and my own expectations and "righteousness" is so... wrong! :-) Praise God!
Thank you for sharing your gleanings with us! AMEN!
Ditto to Michelle... I miss you too!
Love, Beth
Thanks Sarah, for sharing! What a blessing...especially those last comments about how our lives are in vain if not lived for God's glory!! It's soo encouraging to see what God is doing in your hearts!
-Melody
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