Our life lately!

This is a long post. Get ready to read. I hope this is encouraging to someone out there.

Here is a link to a friend/fellow blogger, Heather. Heather always is so encouraging to me when I read her blog. At any rate, when she says "check this out", I generally check it out. I always get something from the item she recomends. Her post on this Bible study just intrigued me so much. It took a while for me to read, but I finally have read it. It was great, and the neatest thing is, I got something totally different out of it. It is something that was so revelant to our life right now. So check this out. Let me know how it affects you. Please!


On this she links to a Bible study that I finally got to read. It was so encouraging to me. Now, I will tell you why. Rob and I have in the last year and half or so come to a new understanding of the Gospel message. God through is sovereignty and grace has opened our eyes to the true message of salvation. It is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. Check out my testimony for more details of where I come from. My testimony is on April 18, 2006. (forgive me I don't know how to link like many others.)

Rob has been sharing his testimony at quit a few area churches here. He has been asked to return to a few. One in particular he has returned to a few times. Well, they are without a pastor and have been for a while. They asked him to considered being a pastoral canidate. Okay, how flattering. Right! Well, Rob has always wanted to be a paid pastor. Now let me explain what I mean. He had pastored for 8 years prior and never recieved any compensation. Therefore, he had to work a full time job in order to support our family. Now because of this he was not able to give 100% to anything, family, church or work. Get the picture. Okay, here is the deal, he was asked, and we didn't want to just jump on the opportunity because of convience, we really are wanting to be in the will of God with our ministry.

He tried to tell this congregation that he didn't feel ready to pastor so soon. They still pursued him. He was asked to preach there again. Then again they asked him to consider being a pastoral canidate. After this he had a 2 hour meeting to let them know where we stand doctrinally. We believe in the total sovereignty of God concerning absolutely EVERTHING, including salvation. That is not a doctrine that all Christian people want to accept. THis didn't change their mind. We went and he preached another time after this meeting with the elders/pastoral search committee. Immediately following the service he was called into the office and asked to be interim Pastor. He accepted. He figured, I've told them where I'm coming from, and he will preach it, and not be ashamed, and they still want him. He started his interim work last Sunday.

Okay, then I read this Bible study. How convicting. Here is the section that hit home to me.

First, let's come back to the Passover. You know the story -- how God called Moses, challenged him, and sent him back to Egypt. At first he was reluctant to go. There are wonderful lessons in all of these stories. Here, for example, when God said to Moses, "Moses, I want you to go down and deliver my people." Moses said to God, "Oh, Lord, I can't do that; I can't speak; I am not eloquent; I am not able to talk. I can't stand before Pharaoh." God didn't rebuke Moses for saying that. He wasn't angry because that was merely Moses' human inadequacy displaying itself. There is nothing wrong with that. We were made to be that way. God never holds us guilty for feeling inadequate when he asks us to do something.

But then God said to Moses, "I know you can't talk but here's what I will do. I'll be a tongue for you. I will speak through you. You go down to Egypt and I will be your tongue and I will speak through you." And Moses said, "Well, Lord, I think you had better get somebody else." Then it says, "The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses." (Ex. 4:14) The first time Moses was saying, "I can't do this. I am just a man." And God says, "Yes, I know, I made you that way. But I will do it through you." When Moses, the second time, said, "Well, Lord, you had better get someone else," what he was really saying was, "Lord, I can't do this and I don't think you can do it either." When Moses challenged God like that, the anger of God was kindled against him. Now that is a good point to remember whenever God challenges you to do something.

He is never concerned when your initial reaction is to draw back. But after he has reminded you that he is with you to do this thing in you and through you and then you draw back, you have insulted God because you have said, "I don't think you can do it either."

God was calling us to do a work and we told him, "No we are not able." Then he asked us again, and we still told him "NO". Finally we answered the call that he was giving. He will give us the words to say, and the strength to say them, in order that these people may hear the true gospel message. He will use us to spread the gospel. Then, we started to question how will we survive financially. DUH!!!! God will provide all our needs, emotionally, spiritually, physically, and yes, even financially. Why do we question God?

This reminds me of a devotion I read the other day also.
http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php?month=06&day=27&year=06
Again it was My Utmost for His Highest.

We put our common sense on the throne and then attach God’s name to it. We do lean to our own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our hearts.

Why, I ask do we continue to question the sovereignty of God? We are human, we are at constant war with ourselves. Sinner/Saint living in the same body. We have to be reminded to depend on God. I am so thankful for all the little reminders that God is sovereign and in control of all things in our lives. We just have to depend on him, not common sense. Even when we momentarily forget, he gives us a gentle reminder. God is so gracious, and faithful to forgive us for all our mistakes. I have to remind myself this also, God knows the ending from the begining. Isn't that an awesome revelation. He knows all things, and reveals to us what we can handle one day at a time.

Okay, I've rambled on enough. I sometimes do that, I just can't seem to get my thoughts out onto the paper (keyboard) the way I want them to sound. Keep us in your prayers. We are on a journey and God is in control.