Fellowshipping & Praise the Lord with Doc329 (24)

doc329 said:

When everthing falls apart and our prayers seem to go unanswered, we have entered a place where words give way to silence. Even scripture can seem foreign. Silence become the most honest language.

A minister lost his wife to cancer. It closed him down. He coudn't teach or preach. He lost his words. He said that while he was grateful to everyone who ministered to him, the people he remembers best are the ones who had no words, no answers. He calls them "the silent comforters," and that they were truer mediators of God that the visitors who tried to ease his grief with words.

Silence might be God's truest language. And when we find ourselves lost for words, untouched by words, it might not be our faith that we have lost. It might simply be that we are shifting into a different level of faith. It might be that we are being moved closer to the Word of Life that begins and ends in silence.

From silence God does a new thing. The gospels point this out. For John, the Word ushers from the silence at the beginning of creation. For Luke, it is the silence of poor old Zechariah, struck dumb by the angel Gabriel for doubting that Elizabeth could bear a child. For Matthew, it is the awkward silence between Joseph and Mary when she tells him her prenuptual news, and for Mark it is the voice of one crying in the wilderness - the long forgotten voice of prophecy punctuating the silence of the desert and of time. Silence was the backdrop against which the Word began to be heard.

Silence is stark. In silence we are left with our own longing. And when our longing for wholeness, for love, for God is the only remnant of faith we have, our longing becomes our prayer.

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doc329 said:

Walking Bibles
Have you ever been so moved by someone's example that it changed your life forever?
Have you ever noticed that some people seem to shine and stand out in a crowd, even though they might not be rich, famous, beautiful or accomplished?
Those are the people I try to follow. They have that special something. They are happy and at peace even during times of adversity. They seem to be "walking the talk".

Those people might very well be "walking Bibles."
I try to apply the same principles to my own life. I always try to remember to ask myself these questions when I am in the midst of turmoil, despair, uncertainty, or anger: "What does the Word say to do?" "Am I actually living God's Word if I react the way I want to?"

"What if someone watching me is on the fence about starting a relationship with God and needs to see him in action? What kind of example am I setting for God?" What is the payoff if I do the right thing?
When we are in relationship with Christ, we don't care about payoffs or rewards for good deeds. We just care that others come to Him. It's not for us to always know the outcome.
It is very easy to be a "walking Bible" in worship service or whenever. But how about during rush hour traffic when I am running late? How do I act while standing in an express lane at the Super Market and the person in front of me has a boatload of stuff and is paying by check?

I am human and very ordinary. However, when I sincerely seek God's will and God's word, I tend to be more loving, accepting, kind, tolerant and - patient. I do not take credit for this. It just seems to happen naturally as I allow the Holy Spirit to work through me.
Joseph had a committed relationship with God and did not need to be in the limelight. But he was a lighthouse for God and, therefore, an example for God, because he regularly and righteously sought out God's will and word.

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barb754 said:

While there are many talented and successful Christians in the
world today, they are merely vessels for God's message of grace,
hope, and power. Our focus should never be on the container for the
message. Instead, what is most important is the integrity of the
messenger no matter the situation, so that the message can be seen
without distraction. God's power, not our own, is what sustains us;
we are simply a vessel, a tool, in the hands of the Lord.

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doc329 said:

Bible Never Be Ashamed
Everything that God has made is of the finest quality. Never be ashamed of what God is doing in your life.
Nothing He has ever made should ever be despised by anyone.
Who are we to judge God’s workmanship?
All of God’s new creatures in Christ are surpassingly beautiful.
He makes all things beautiful.

“That which is your own work, you may well blush to own; that which is the devil’s work, you are bound to detest;
but that which is the work of the Holy Spirit in you, will bear inspection, and no guilty fear should cause you to conceal it.

Let your meekness, your kindness, your uprightness, your truth, your purity appear unto all men.
Never let it be a question whether you are a Christian

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doc329 said:

Bible Never Be Ashamed Everything that God has made is of the finest quality. Never be ashamed of what God is doing in your life. Nothing He has ever made should ever be despised by anyone. Who are we to judge God’s workmanship? All of God’s new creatures in Christ are surpassingly beautiful. He makes all things beautiful. “That which is your own work, you may well blush to own; that which is the devil’s work, you are bound to detest; but that which is the work of the Holy Spirit in you, will bear inspection, and no guilty fear should cause you to conceal it. Let your meekness, your kindness, your uprightness, your truth, your purity appear unto all men. Never let it be a question whether you are a Christian

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barb754 said:

While there are many talented and successful Christians in the
world today, they are merely vessels for God's message of grace,
hope, and power. Our focus should never be on the container for the
message. Instead, what is most important is the integrity of the
messenger no matter the situation, so that the message can be seen
without distraction. God's power, not our own, is what sustains us;
we are simply a vessel, a tool, in the hands of the Lord.

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doc329 said:

If we will stand by the Lord and be the people he saved us to be, we can count on Him using us as well.
I have seen people in the valley us depression be used of the Lord. I have seen people held in the grip of terminal illness be used of the Lord. I have seen people who didn’t have a dime to their name and still God used them.
If you will be faithful where He puts you, He will use you there for His glory!
The greatest thing that can ever be said about you and me, as far as our walk with the Lord is concerned, is that we were faithful. I want to be found faithful.
How about you?
I want to be faithful to my family. I want to be faithful to my call. I want to be faithful to my Lord.
I want to be faithful to the One Who has never been unfaithful to me!

Dear friends, just keep living for Jesus, even when it doesn’t seem to be paying off. Just keep praying when the answers aren’t coming.
Keep going to church when it seems as dry as dust.
Keep praising Him even if you have to do it through your tears.
If you will stay faithful in the prisons of life, God will get glory from your life and He will bless you in ways you could never have imagined.

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doc329 said:

the kind of praying we do that is sometimes non-specific. For instance,when we will pray for faithful preachers and missionaries. We pray for our
persecuted brethren around the world.
We pray for our fellow churches. We pray for many other things in the same way.

We don’t necessarily call out all the names, places, and needs involved, but we pray for those people and situations in a general way.
I believe God hears those prayers, and I believe he answers them.
He knows our hearts, and He knows the specific needs far better than we do.

I don’t really know what you need.
I sometimes don’t know when the church needs.
I don’t know what the church down the road needs. I don’t know what the Pastor across town is going through.
But, I know Who does.
So, I go to Him with all the things I don’t know, and I look to Him to take care of those things as He sees fit.

The fact that we care to pray for people we will never meet, and for needs that will never touch us, says something about the condition of our hearts.
It says that we have a burden for the things God cares about. He honors that.

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doc329 said:

There are times in the life of Christians when we must learn to lean on the Lord for understanding. There are times when we ask the question, " Why God? I don't understand. During these times we must learn to trust the Lord and not our own understanding. I'd like to tell you a story about a mother and her deaf child. This is a good illustration. In the state where we live there was but one school for deaf children, a residential school some fifty miles away. When she turned four years old, she was accepted into the school. She could not hear or talk at that time and knew no hand signs. To go to this school was the only chance for to get an education, but could we give her up? When the time came to go, we got her ready for the trip. We were unable to tell her where we were going or why. She packed quickly for she loved to travel, but became quiet when she saw the rest of the family had no suitecases. At the school we brought in her clothes and pointed to a small bed that was to be hers, she became more anxious and distressed. She held on to us with all her strength and began to cry. We felt our hearts break. We could not say," We love you". We will be back in a couple of weeks. You will be coming home this summer. She did not understand why this awful thing was happening to her. Fighting back tears, we loosened her arms from around us, and gave her to the supervisor. It was perhaps the most unselfish, greatest act of love we ever did for her. Painful as it was to her, it was also very heartbreaking for us. I am sure God must sometimes wipe away a tear of pity for our struggles, saying," I wish you could see the reasons now, but you can't." When you don't understand why, understand who is in control and put your trust in him.

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doc329 said:

There are times in the life of Christians when we must learn to lean on the Lord for understanding.
There are times when we ask the question, " Why God? I don't understand. During these times we must learn to trust the Lord and not our own understanding.

I'd like to tell you a story about a mother and her deaf child. This is a good illustration.
In the state where we live there was but one school for deaf children, a residential school some fifty miles away.
When she turned four years old, she was accepted into the school. She could not hear or talk at that time and knew no hand signs. To go to this school was the only chance for to get an education, but could we give her up?
When the time came to go, we got her ready for the trip. We were unable to tell her where we were going or why. She packed quickly for she loved to travel, but became quiet when she saw the rest of the family had no suitecases.

At the school we brought in her clothes and pointed to a small bed that was to be hers, she became more anxious and distressed. She held on to us with all her strength and began to cry. We felt our hearts break. We could not say," We love you". We will be back in a couple of weeks. You will be coming home this summer. She did not understand why this awful thing was happening to her. Fighting back tears, we loosened her arms from around us, and gave her to the supervisor.

It was perhaps the most unselfish, greatest act of love we ever did for her. Painful as it was to her, it was also very heartbreaking for us.
I am sure God must sometimes wipe away a tear of pity for our struggles, saying," I wish you could see the reasons now, but you can't."

When you don't understand why, understand who is in control and put your trust in him.

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