Day: October 29, 2008

Thankful Thursdays

Swallowing a MOOSE??

A. Knight

Hey everybody~ my friend Heather…from Swallowing a Moose has created a special Thanksgiving Blog…just for TESTIMONIES! I think it is awesome! It’s called Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving!

It is a culmination of all our Thankful Thursdays (sort of)!

Iris of Grace Alone began Thankful Thursdays and it is growing and glorifying Christ in the heart of every single visitor! WE are encouraged to look up! To be thankful! To lift the chin of another! Which is exactly what the LORD wants us to be doing! While it is yet day!

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:13 NIV

I am so thankful for shared sunsets! The beauty of the evening sky was captured by us amateur photographers on our Sisters of Faith Retreat! The palette of colors used by God is so magnificent, it is not found in any box of Crayola’s!

I am thankful for the beauty that He shines into our lives when we take the time to look! (This was one thing touched on Wednesday night during Bible Study.)

I am thankful for healing of my Aunt Evielean and my dear friend Susan! I am believing God to complete His perfect work in their lives and bodies!

I am thankful for the opportunity to meet Julie on our trip and help her celebrate her birthday…no we didn’t discuss numbers! That’s not important! Since my coming birthday will mean forty-sssssseeeeeevvvvvveeeeeennnnn years of blessings….we don’t go there.

I am thankful for friends, family and faith. I am thankful for salvation. For while I was yet a sinner, Christ had already made provision that I might have eternal life. In GLORY!

I am thankful for ALL He is teaching me as we are on this journey of dedication of time and heart with the 90 Days With the One and Only by Beth Moore. I have wept over many of the pages of words as they have penetrated my heart and soul. Christ is giving us a clear picture of ourselves—-and an even greater picture of what He desires us to be IN HIM. Through the pages of His life and journey while on this earth. So, if you have been thinking…”Angie just ain’t writing anymore”… honey, let me tell you, ask Jeff. I have had my face in the book(s) and in front of the computer every single night, along with my sister Aimee. You just have to trot over to the “Sister’s House” to find us! Sisters of Faith!

I am thankful for the dedicated hearts that have joined….as well as the lurkers, who simply read and pray along with us. (They think we don’t know they’re out there….) Thank you all!

I am thankful for YOU. For each blog I read, the Lord confirms over and over His amazing love for each heart and life. He shows me continually that each heart, touching another heart is part of His divine plan and purpose! YOU have touched my heart…just by stopping by!

Have a blessed weekend! Be sure and drop by Iris’ place for more thankful hearted testimonies of God’s goodness!

90 Days with Jesus Bible Study

Day Fifty-Nine

A. Knight

Scripture Reference Luke 12:35-40

Have you heard the commercial for a certain motel chain? “We’ll leave the light on for ya!” I thought of this when I was reading Beth’s comments.

How do they know what time I will arrive? They don’t. But they are prepared. The bed is made. The towels are clean and everything needed is at hand. I’ve only visited that particular chain of motels once or maybe twice in my life. They had the essentials. Nothing extra. I like the breakfast bar. The fresh coffee and cereal or biscuits in the morning. Sorry. This post is not about that. It’s about being found ready. Let’s move on.

When we were growing up, our mother worked as a bookkeeper in a nearby city. About a 25 minute drive from our house. We knew that every single day she expected the house to be neat and if she had something laid out for supper, and had given me instructions on preparing it, she expected to smell it when she walked in.

Well…you know we were kids. I was (still am), the oldest. Then Wanda, Aimee and finally, bringing up the rear was the baby brother. The ONLY boy. Got the picture? He was a mite bit spoiled. Didn’t have to do anything much…except be a bit annoying at times. THANKFULLY he grew up! Thankfully….we all did! (We really had a great family of kids—and mother was the icing on the cake!)

We had it timed down to the last minute. Mother got off work at 5. That meant that we had to hustle if we started at 5 to have everything “sloppily done” by 5:30. Most of the time it was done right. But I am SURE there were those few times that it was just slopped through. We would goof off watching TV—Gilligan’s Island, Beverly Hillbillies (this was when they were only re-runs in the afternoon…before any such thing as Nick at Nite or TVLand) or we’d be playing…and sometimes…doing homework! (Imagine that!)

But I think back to those days and wonder at our silliness. Why didn’t we just do as we were told? So many distractions. The TV. Games. Fun stuff to keep us otherwise occupied. A time or two, the 5:00 alarm just sneaked up on us!

There will be no warning alarm. We are told in the Word to “be found ready”. Be prepared.

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 2 Peter 3:14 NIV(emphasis mine)

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. 2Peter 3:10-12(a) (emphasis mine)

That pretty much tells it all. Right? I am praying daily for the Lord to show me where I need to change my attitude—repent—renew my mind! I want to be found doing what He has called to the best of my ability. I want to be found ready. Not on the way to getting ready. The 5:00 alarm will not give us a 30 minute warning.

Let’s get busy for Him. Doing what He has called us to do.

Father in heaven, I am here. Again. Asking You to use me—to fulfill Your desire for my life. Show me where I need to be molded into a fashion that You set out for me from the beginning. Pull my path back in line with Yours. Keep me straight. Help me have the vision that You have. Help me have the love and compassion that You desire in each of us. Teach me. I thank You for each heart that stops by here to read and study. I want more of Your word than ever before! Fill me up! In the holy name of Jesus I pray—believing with all my heart!~Amen.

Keeping the Faith,

Angie